Brits warned they face tea shortages and £5-a-brew costs as ‘acuppalypse now’ hits
The UN is warning that a combination of climate change and global conflict could cause the price of tea to skyrocket and threaten the future of the cuppa
Brits warned they face tea shortages and the price of a brew to hit £5 a cup(Image: SWNS)
Brits are set to face serious tea shortages that could force the price of a brew to a whopping £5 a cup, according to a boffin.
The UN is warning that a combination of climate change and global conflict could cause the price of tea to skyrocket – and potentially threaten the future of the humble cuppa entirely.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sunday, a senior official from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that rising temperatures and volatile international relations could make the nation’s favourite drink both harder to grow and more expensive to transport.
Worryingly, Britain may already be feeling the impact. According to Mamoun Amrouk, a FAO senior economist and team leader, the UK has seen an 8% decline in the amount of tea it imports, alongside a 16% increase in import prices as a result of “shipping disruptions and geopolitical tensions”.
The UN is warning that a combination of climate change and global conflict could cause the price of tea to skyrocket(Image: Getty Images)
Amrouk explained that tea was especially vulnerable to shortages and price rises because production of the plants used to make it is “concentrated in a relatively small number of countries” that are particularly at risk from climate change and conflict.
He said: “Droughts, excessive rainfall, and extreme temperatures reduce yields, affect tea quality, and increase the incidence and spread of pests and diseases.”
He added that if these extreme weather events become more frequent, tea companies may struggle to turn a profit year after year.
“Climate-related shocks, geopolitical tensions, shipping disruptions, and rising input and logistics costs can reinforce one another and increase the cost of supplying tea to international markets,” he said.
Britain as a nation drinks about 100 million cups of tea every single day.(Image: SWNS)
With Asia the world’s largest tea-producing region, instability in the Middle East — especially around the Strait of Hormuz — could push prices up further, with the “greater share of higher costs likely to be passed on to consumers”.
And it is not just war and global warming that the UN is worried about when it comes to the price of a brew. “Rising input and labour costs” are putting even more stress on the industry and “making the tea sector increasingly vulnerable to future shocks despite currently adequate supplies”.
Tea s especially vulnerable to shortages and price rises(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
While prices may rise, Amrouk believes that, for now at least, tea is unlikely to disappear entirely from British shelves for any significant length of time. He explained that “there is no indication of broad supply shortages at the global level”, despite the risk of “localised disruptions” and further cost increases.
Britain as a nation drinks about 100 million cups of tea every single day.
On an individual level, the average Brit consumes roughly 880 to 1,000 cups of tea per year (about 2.5 to 2.7 cups a day).
