The Tesco CEO told the BBC leaving the European Union without a deal on 31 October could cause problems due to less storage space for stockpiling in the run up to Christmas. He said it will be harder for retailers and manufacturers to build up stocks of goods so near to the holiday season, like they did ahead of the original 29 March deadline to leave the bloc. The initial Brexit date was extended after Prime Minister Theresa May failed to get her deal through Parliament. In order to prepare for the deadline, Tesco had purchased £200million worth of extra stock of long-life items to cope with any disruptions to supply.
Mr Lewis said: “It will be more difficult to do that in October, that’s for sure, because all of the network will be full of things getting ready for Christmas so there will be less capacity.”
Sourcing fresh food could also be a major stumbling block as Tesco imports about 50 percent of the fresh food it sells, Mr Lewis told his company’s annual general meeting in June.
This could mean Brexit might be a good time for the UK to think more about the products the nation wants to consumer and finalise a “food strategy”, he said.
Mr Lewis added: ”It may be a good time for the UK to… decide, actually: what food do we want to eat, with what impact on health, with what impact on the environment.
“Having a food strategy for the country would be a very good outcome.”
The other concern for the supermarket is waded consumer confidence in the UK economy, with Mr Lewis refusing to rule out the worry of empty shelves.
But he said the amount of stock in store will depend on the type of Brexit deal – or no deal – Britain leaves the EU with.
Mr Lewis said: “Empty shelves depends on what no-deal means.
“If there’s a problem at the border, if there’s a problem with tariffs then there could be interruption.
“If as part of no deal there is no tariff, there is no problem.
“We could be absolutely fine.”
Tesco has a leading 27.4 percent share of Britain’s grocery market, according to the latest industry data.