No Brexit: Unilever Stockpiles Ice Cream In Case of No-Deal

The March 29 Brexit separation of the U.K from Europe has exacerbated concerns of supply disruption with most companies resorting to stockpiling of goods. Unilever is the latest join the stockpiling spree and is adding up its Magnum ice cream reserves to stay safe before the Brexit deadline. For this, the consumer goods giant is importing extra supplies from mainland Europe.

Concerns have been mounting on the Brexit scenario without making a deal with Europe.

Retailers such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer have already firmed up their stockpiling plans on packed and tinned foods. But they have expressed the dilemma that maintaining supplies of fresh produce is really hard.

Unilever challenge

Unilever is building reserve stocks for Magnum ice-cream in the U.K in making sure that supplies do not run out if a no-deal Brexit unfurls. Company CEO Alan Jope said the company had been adding extra supplies of the ice-cream through imports from mainland Europe, in case the ports do not function.

Similar is the case with deodorant brands, made in Leeds, U.K. They include Sure, Lynx, and Dove. The brand is raising an extra stock of deodorants on the other side of the Channel.

Unilever with more than 400 brands under its umbrella is putting in all emergency measures to handle supply chain issues as the place of production varies from product to product.

Unilever produces Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream and Marmite in the In the U.K while Magnum is made in factories of Italy and Germany.

“We have built inventory on either side of the Channel,” Jope said. “It’s weeks of inventory – not months or days.

“If I was in the designer handbag business then I might have built further inventory cover but we're not, we are in fast-moving consumer goods and one of the things we have learned is, when you build inventory, it can end up being the wrong mix of product," the CEO noted.

Other manufactures hurrying with the stockpiling are auto -component maker Bosch, drugmaker Novartis and luxury goods firm LVMH, reports BBC.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury, Asda and McDonald's have warned that stockpiling fresh food was impossible. A no-deal Brexit would force them to go out of stock. But the government has consoled businesses saying it has “well established” methods to pre-empt any kind of disruption.

EU offers visa-free travel to Britishers post-Brexit

Meanwhile, the EU agreed for visa-free travel to British citizens to the member states even if Brexit is a non-deal scenario. The visit to the EU can be for a maximum 90 days. Britain has already confirmed that EU citizens can make short-term visits to the U.K without a visa even after Brexit.