Imports from Europe hit

20 April 2010
DOHA: Imports of fresh fruit and vegetable from Holland and Britain have been hit hard as air cargo is not arriving here since last weekend due to the disruption of air traffic in northern Europe.

A major outlet of fresh European vegetables and fruits said yesterday that the stocks that had arrived before the disruption in Europe, caused by a cloud of volcanic ash, were running out fast. "We have stocks left for another three to four days. That's all. Fresh stocks are not coming," an official from the outlet told this newspaper.

According to him, his outlet gets weekly supplies of these items of short shelf life, including European cheese, through Qatar Airways cargo services.


The official, however, said European exporters were in regular touch with them and updating them almost daily on the air traffic situation in their part of the world.

European vegetables and fruits here are expensive and the demand is mainly from Westerners. "If the stocks end we would have no option but to pray that air cargo services between the Gulf and Europe resume," said the official.

Fresh fruits and vegetables that are imported from Saudi Arabia, India, Jordan and Lebanon, among other countries, are much cheaper so demand for them is very high. Their supplies remain unaffected.

Meanwhile, an air cargo service provider told this newspaper that items other than perishables like fruits, vegetables and cheese that are imported from northern Europe include foodstuff that has longer shelf life, medical equipment and spare parts.

"Well, we hope that the air traffic disruptions in northern Europe wouldn't last long," said an official from the cargo company.

© The Peninsula 2010

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