A ban on meat imports from Germany in the wake of a foot-and-mouth scare has had a range of knock-on effects for stockists of continental produce.
Delis told FFD in February that shipments from Italy had been held up by extra origin checks as the UK scrambled to keep the disease outside its borders.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on 15th January that it would not issue health certificates for fresh meat from Germany until further notice.
Steven Salamon, owner of Wally’s Delicatessen in Cardiff, said the move had directly impacted his business.
“Supply of German smoked hams and salamis has dried up, after stocks already in the country were used up,” he said.
“Supply of some Italian meats has also been affected as apparently they sometimes use German meat.”
Salamon was left pinning his hopes on a change in fortunes.
“I’m crossing my fingers things might get back to normal soon,” he said. “There is not a lot we can do.
“Customers have to go without or order something else. They have had to get use to shortages of meat products from Germany since Brexit came into full force.”
Frankie Dyer, owner of Barbakan Delicatessen, said the Manchester business had already reduced its reliance on German meat after finding it was taking a long time to arrive in the wake of the UK’s EU exit.
However, that didn’t stop the latest ban impacting the retailer.
“Our most recent Italian meats import was stopped at the border and delayed by a week while they went through all the traceability processes to check if any of the pork had originally come from Germany,” said Dyer.
“We then only received half our order and all of the salamis were sent back.”
Barbakan was left without key ingredients it uses across various top-selling lines including salads and sandwiches.
“It is frustrating,” said Dyer. “I’ve been told it’s a bit of a paperwork nightmare for all meat suppliers across Europe. Germany is one of the biggest pork suppliers on the continent.”
Farming minister Daniel Zeichner said in January: “The Government will do whatever it takes to protect our nation’s farmers from the risk posed by foot and mouth disease.
“That is why restrictions have immediately been brought in on animal products from Germany to prevent an outbreak and we will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease spreads.
“We will continue to keep the situation under review working closely with the German authorities.”
This article first appeared in the March edition of Fine Food Digest
