A warehouse tucked under two railway arches in southeast London has a treasure trove of Greek delicacies, including barrel-aged feta, fresh oregano, Cretan olive oil and cases of nearly a hundred different wines destined for the city's top restaurants and discriminating home cooks. The tempting variety at Maltby & Greek is under threat as Britain phases in customs rules required by the European Union.
Businesses moving small amounts of goods to Britain are particularly hard hit by the additional forms, customs charges and health safety checks. London is one of the world's best cities for dining because of the specialist food importers buying from small suppliers across the European continent.
The owner of Maltby & Greek, which has imported food and wine from Greece and its islands for the past decade, said that it has made it easier to discover and import unusual products. On Saturdays, customers can find goat-milk butter, Mastelo cheese, bunches of mountain tea, and pale Gigantes beans from Feneos, in the northern Peloponnese.
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Food producers and wine importers are housed in the Spa Terminus. Andrew Testa was a writer for The New York Times.
Two weeks ago, getting each of those items here became more complicated.
Half of all imports into the country in 2020 were from the European Union, and on January 1, Britain stepped up its enforcement of customs requirements. The goods must be accompanied by customs declarations. British importers were able to delay reporting last year. Businesses that import animal and plant products must notify the government of their shipments.
The introduction of the rules at the border has gone well. Some food shipments were stopped and some customers were incorrect in filling out the paperwork, according to a company that runs ferry services to Britain. On one day, shipments from the Netherlands had to be stopped to deal with a back up.
The chief executive of the company said that everyone tried to learn from what happened a year ago.
The European Union introduced customs rules as soon as they went into effect last year, causing problems such as delays in deliveries, trucking companies stopping serving Ireland, and food spoiled in ports. It took more than a month for most of the problems to be solved.
This year Britain couldn't afford the same import issues. In the winter, fresh fruit and vegetables are in high demand, and about a quarter of the country's food is imported from the European Union.
There are challenges away from the border. British businesses are taking on the costs of exporting to Europe to avoid losing business. Others are reducing the choices for customers. Others are limiting purchases to bulk orders.
The decline was obvious before the rules were in place. The Food and Drink Federation says food and drink imports fell in the first nine months of the year.
Mr. Hadjiioannou kept business as usual after Britain left the customs union. The price increases and additional customs costs became prohibitive within six months. He stopped getting weekly deliveries of anthotyro, a soft fresh sheep's milk cheese from Crete, and traditionally strained sheep or goat yogurt, leaving the popular products regularly out of stock. Sausages from Crete are now frozen so they can be sent in larger, less frequent deliveries.
Most of the products that were important for a lot of the restaurants and delis have suffered. The loss of flexibility has been the biggest disruption.
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The variety of Greek delicacies is under threat by the new customs rules.
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The owner of Maltby & Greek said that most of the products that were small volume but important for a lot of the restaurants and delis have suffered.
The warehouse of Maltby & Greek is located at Spa Terminus, a strip of railway arches that houses food producers, wholesalers and wine importers. At this time of year, fresh produce at its markets include Sicilian citrus, Italian leafy greens and French root vegetables. At the opposite end of the store is Rachel Sills, who sells cheese from Switzerland and the Netherlands. She has experience exporting from Switzerland, but it hasn't insulated her from the extra cost.
Not all of the small producers in the Netherlands have an email address. Each one is required to have an Economic Operator's registration and identification number, as well as customs agents to do export and tax paperwork, and they must complete more detailed invoices.
Ms. Sills said she had taken on extra costs for export clearances. She was able to combine the orders to pay only 65 euros for each invoice, on top of her own import fees. She said that they haven't started paying for the real costs of the export charges. I have.
Ms. Sills said that the paperwork and cost are not that burdensome. She said that buying small volumes becomes insane for companies with lots of suppliers.
Extra costs are what the businesses have been boiled down to by the departure of the EU.
David Henig, a trade policy expert in London, said that they are past the point of having wild shortages. The customs systems work, but the damage will be more like a slow boiling frog. The extra costs will eat away at Britain's economy, with independent forecasts indicating a long-run shortfall of about 4% of gross domestic product. The effect is likely to be less choice for customers.
The incentives for companies to invest in Britain are diminishing.
Franco Fubini, the founder of Natoora, which started in London in 2004 and now supplies fresh produce from hundreds of small farms in Europe and North America, said that they are less U.K. focused than they were a couple of years ago.
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The owner of Natoora in Sicily is Franco Fubini.
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The New York Times reported on fresh lemons in Natoora's London warehouse.
The British arm of the company no longer imports anything directly from the farms in Italy, France, Spain and Greece. The produce could be bought in Paris and Milan and sold to the London office if more employees were hired. Saving money on trucks and customs is achieved by this consolidation.
Mr. Fubini said that he was reconsidering his company's future because of the damage caused by the decision to leave the EU. For the first time in 15 or 16 years, I started to question how much we should invest in the U.K.
The new trade deal with the European Union should allow our companies and our exporters to do even more business with our European friends, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It has made it more difficult. Businesses are tied up in other red tape because of Britain's departure from the EU. The slowness in realizing the benefits has frustrated even its supporters.
Elena Deminska runs the other fresh produce market at Spa Terminus, and she said that the British could use the opportunity to produce some of the food that was imported from the European Union. Ms. Deminska said that the country has a climate for bitter winter lettuce or broccoli rabe. She complains that the farmers are inflexible.
Four years ago, Ms. Deminska outsourced her customs work. She is still sad about the paperwork. She said it was not helpful. There is a lot of paperwork.
There are more hurdles ahead for these businesses. Food imports will need to be accompanied by health certificates signed off by inspectors in the European Union, and could be picked for spot checks at the border.
Mr. Fubini said that the changes would add complexity and cost. It is disruptive.
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