Food shortages on the way as even Percy Pig is caught in the crisis

Empty shelves at a Marks & Spencer's store on the Lisburn Road in Belfast, with retailers 'experiencing some disruption after Brexit' and Marks and Spencer has temporarily withdrawn a small proportion of product lines to ensure its delivery lorries are not turned away at ports.

Consumers face short-term shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables, and rising costs for other imported goods because of Brexit, a senior retail chief warned.

Lord Rose, chairman of supermarket delivery company Ocado, said the delays and difficulties in international shipping caused by added paperwork meant the cost will be passed on to the consumer.

Lord Rose, the ex-Remain campaign chief and former M&S chairman, said: “You will see some short-term shortages but let’s be clear, there is not going to be a famine. Food will continue to come in, although at this time of the year 50% to 80%-plus of our fruit and veg comes in from Europe and beyond.

“We’re talking about fresh produce which is perishable. If it doesn’t get out within 24 hours, it goes off.”

The trouble already experienced following the end of the transition period with the European Union on December 31 has led to major parcel courier DPD pausing some delivery services into Europe, including Ireland.

Percy Pigs are manufactured in Germany so may face issues being imported to the UK post Brexit.

Supermarket giant Marks & Spencer said the new regulations are set to “significantly impact” its overseas ventures in Ireland, the Czech Republic and France – including, bizarrely, forcing it to stop selling Percy Pig sweets there.

Some M&S stores in Northern Ireland had empty shelves in fruit and veg sections yesterday and the firm paused delivery of a small proportion of product lines.

The problem stems from the fact that the sweets are manufactured in Germany and sent to M&S, which then distributes them around the UK but also to its outlets in Europe.

Under the government’s trade deal with the EU, this pattern of importing products made overseas then exporting them to Europe may trigger a tariff.

Lorenzo Zaccheo, managing director of Kent-based haulage firm Alcaline UK, said he was expecting deliveries to take two-and-a-half days longer than last year when the country was still following EU rules.

He said vehicles were currently getting stuck at ports for seven hours and that European hauliers were turning down work in the UK, even when offered twice the usual rate.

Meanwhile the SNP at Westminster has called for Scotland to be given “compensation” for the economic effects of Brexit.

The party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has described leaving the European Union, which was finalised on December 31, as an “act of economic vandalism”.

It is not clear how much compensation the SNP believes Scotland should receive, but the number runs into billions.