UK Cold Chain Distribution For Perishible Foods, Vaccines May Not Withstand Price Shock As Strait Stays Closed

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Phil Pluck, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation (CCF), which represents businesses involved in supplying and transporting temperature-sensitive food and pharmaceuticals, said: “The potential for a major food crisis is as great now as it ever was. We are at the mercy of so many different factors now, which are becoming increasingly dangerous to food supply in this country.”

Britain’s food system has not been significantly tested since the second world war, a time when about half of the nation’s cold stores were in public ownership, said Tom Southall, the deputy chief executive at the CCF. “This alludes to an element of complacency about how and where we store our food in the UK.”

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The CCF said international conflicts or hold-ups at the UK border could stop food flowing into the country, while fuel shortages or the failure of cold-storage sites because of flooding or extreme heat amid the climate crisis could cause gaps on supermarket shelves. The continued closure of the strait of Hormuz has interrupted global flows of fertiliser, necessary for half the world’s food production, further raising fears over shortages.

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Supplies of food items have been interrupted on several occasions in the past few years, including shortages of fresh produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers after poor weather in Europe and north Africa hit imports in February 2023 at the same time as UK and Dutch glasshouses cut back production amid soaring energy bills. Several UK supermarkets temporarily rationed sales of certain items in response. Pluck called on the government to designate the UK’s cold stores and food transport hubs as critical infrastructure – rather than the food sector as a whole – given recent shocks to supply during the pandemic, or after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This would ensure power supplies would be maintained in the event of large outages.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/06/ministers-uk-food-supply-immediate-national-priority-trade-body-urges