Years after Brexit, a London honey shop looks beyond Europe for sources
There’s plenty of turmoil in the British economy, from high inflation to widespread labor strikes, due in part to the high cost of living. For London honey seller Samantha Wallace, there’s another concern: trade.
“There’s always something hanging over us because there’s lots of new regulations,” Wallace said in an interview with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal. “Transport costs have gone up. So our transporter have put their prices up by about 10%. And then we pay customs charges, which we never paid before.”
These post-Brexit policy changes have Wallace considering beekeepers outside the European Union to supply her business, known as From Field and Flower. But she’s not quite ready to say goodbye to Europe completely.
“I guess we think of ourselves as European,” Wallace said. “And I have to say some of our best honey, the honey that started it all, if you will, comes from Italy.”
The following is an edited transcript of Ryssdal and Wallace’s conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: I guess first of all, the question is, as every time I talk to you, how’s business?
Samantha Wallace: Well, broadly speaking, it’s OK. I mean, I sound a bit hesitant, it is OK. It’s good, it’s fine. January, February weatherwise here is pretty bleak, and so you just don’t want to go out, so traditionally that’s a low-turnover period for us. And that’s been true this time around, but not fatal or anything, just kind of expected. And actually, we’ve just been doing our calculations for what we call our Easter trade. And actually, we’ve done pretty well. We’ve had some tourists come, there’s definitely more international visitors coming. We’re feeling quite good at the moment. Cautiously optimistic.
Ryssdal: Is it just you and your husband in the shop? Or do you have staff? And what I’m trying to get at is hiring and the labor market over there. Could you, could you hire an assistant shopkeeper if you needed to?
Wallace: Oh, if we needed to, no. Well, probably yes, we could eventually. It’s been tricky. We have two young ladies who work for us. And so we were very lucky. But we have colleagues, effectively, and fellow traders who cannot find staff. It’s very hard, it’s very hard. And partly, I think a lot of people went home, if home was elsewhere than the UK, you know, at the pandemic. And certainly either before or during, and if they could. And then I’m sure it’s been relatively reported, but Brexit certainly created an uptick of people who perhaps are not keen to be here or didn’t know where their future lied, and they decided to go back. And that includes lots of my friends, actually.
Ryssdal: Yeah, Brexit has gotten some press. I think that’s a safe assumption that you can make. But let me ask you about it. Since you brought it up, here we are three years on from the actual separation date. I honestly forget how many years since the vote. Are you still dealing with the aftereffects? You must be, right?
Wallace: Oh, constantly. Yes. I mean, I feel a bit like a broken record. And I feel a bit like we have a constant — what would be the right word for it? An ax is probably a slightly dramatic sense of it, but a certain kind of foreboding. There’s always something hanging over us because there’s lots of new regulations. So prices have increased for us, partly because our beekeepers’ seasons haven’t been great. The pound has been weaker against the euro, and we use good services that give us very competitive conversion rates, but we have lost a lot of percentage points on the conversion. And then we have more trade costs. Transport costs have gone up. So our transporter have put their prices up by about 10%. And then we pay customs charges, which we never paid before.
Ryssdal: So look, why don’t you just say, relatively speaking, and I get that this is a tricky decision for you to make, why don’t you just say, “The heck with Europe, we’re going to source our stuff elsewhere”?
Wallace: Well, we’re sort of doing that. I mean, we wouldn’t say to heck with Europe. Frankly, I guess we think of ourselves as European, and I have to say some of our best honey, like the most fantastic honey, the honey that started it all, if you will, comes from Italy.
Ryssdal: Wait, what was the honey that started it all?
Wallace: It was a cherry flower honey from Italy, from Piemonte. I, as an English person, was just like, “What do you mean cherry flower honey?” And of course, I tried it and the age-old stereotype and cliche of Italian food culture is, sadly, absolutely true because it was marvelous. So yes, that is where it began. That said, with barriers to trade, it being not frictionless anymore, we’d be mad not to look elsewhere. So we have actually just started a conversation with a beekeeper and essentially an ecologist who runs a cooperative in Africa, representing places like Ethiopia and Madagascar and Kenya. And so we’re trying some really interesting stuff, which is exciting.
Ryssdal: I can’t help but notice, Sam, that you’ve never once in all of our conversations going back four years now, you’ve never talked about American honey. I’m just saying.
Wallace: Do you know what? We have customers coming from the states who tell me wherever they’re from, be it Oklahoma, be it the West Coast, wherever it is, that they produce these great honeys. And they always promise me they’re going to bring me some back, and they never do. So I’m up for that. I’m very up for that.