The attacks prompted most shipping companies that use the main trade route, which heads towards the Suez Canal, to reroute ships around the Cape of Good Hope on the African side. This adds approximately 10 to 14 days to shipping times, as well as increased costs for shippers.
Sparesh Agarwal, owner of several tea gardens in Darjeeling, India and founder of Dorje Teas, told… I A newspaper said in December that tea shipments had been halted due to the turmoil.
“We sent shipments to the US and Europe two weeks ago, but they are still at the Bombay port and have not been received yet,” he told the newspaper at the time.
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The United States and the United Kingdom launched strikes on the Houthis in an attempt to stop the latest wave of attacks, but the attacks continue.
The latest shortage comes after widespread egg shortages across Britain last year which were blamed on a bird flu outbreak and rising feed and energy costs.
The war in Ukraine has also affected food supplies as the region is a major producer of wheat, which is the main ingredient in chicken feed.
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All major British supermarkets have imposed a limit of two or three cartons of eggs per customer as many shoppers faced empty shelves.
Britons have so far largely avoided tea shortages of late, although Twinings suffered “challenges” sourcing a Lapsang Souchong blend last April, leading to it being replaced with a tradition that angered some fans.
Last year, Tetley narrowly avoided a tea shortage after workers in the GMB union accepted a new pay deal that canceled a planned strike by 200 workers at Tata Consumer Products in Teesside, northern England, the only producer of Tetley tea bags in the UK. And Canada.
The Telegraph, London
