Price of European Delicacies Expected to Rise with Brexit, Warns Cardiff Deli Owner
The upcoming EU referendum has raised concerns about Britain’s trade relation with the rest of the EU. The owner of a renown delicatessen shop in Cardiff shares his doubts on the possible effects of Brexit on his business.
If you rely on fresh food, salamis and cheese from Europe, Brexit might be a bad news, especially if you are in the business of selling them, like Wally’s, a delicatessen shop in Cardiff’s city centre founded by a Polish immigrant in 1947.
“We are selling products, which are very authentic,” says Steven Salamon, the owner of Wally’s, responsible for providing clients with a different range of products from Europe and the rest of the world. “This gives us our point of difference. Anyone with an interest in travel, cookery, or who come here from a third or second generation of families will be interest in coming here for that authenticity.”
Salamon makes no secret of the issues his business has faced in the application of some EU regulation. “The problem has been that there just seems there isn’t a uniformity. We have been asked to implement certain regulations, which don’t seem the case if you go to France, or Spain or Italy. We have a lot of problems in interpretation.”
However, he believes that the uncertainty on whether the UK will stay or leave the EU is of no benefit for businesses, particularly for its effects on supplies, bureaucracy, and prices. “I think our prices will increase significantly and companies may be penalised for not being in Europe because their cost will go up, increased legislation, increased bureaucracy in dealing with countries which are part of the EU. I think our underline costs will go up a lot,” explains Salamon.
So, should Welsh businesses like Wally’s be concerned by the possible negative consequences of Brexit? “I think that’s very unlikely, we will have still access to European markets and it’s in the interest of some of our largest trading partner to actually maintain those trading links with us because we are very very big market for European producers, likewise some European states are very very big markets for our products,” argues Professor Max Munday, director of the Welsh Economy Research Unit at Cardiff University.
For Munday it’s not small businesses or their clients that might find Brexit troublesome. “We are to some extended dependent on trade with Europe. For some of our larger businesses — they do have quite a lot of trade in Europe — the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union might create some uncertainty.”
According to a recent poll by YouGov, ITV, and Cardiff University, 45% of the Welsh people want to leave the European Union, while 37% want to stay in. Different cross-party campaigns have been set up to support or vote against the agreement, for example Leave.eu, Grassroots Out, and Britain Stronger in Europe.
David Cameron has chosen Wales to kick off his campaign to promote the deal he made with other European states. A referendum will be hold on July 23 to decide on the UK’s EU membership status. Visiting the GE plant in Nantgarw, South Wales, the Prime Minister said that there are 100,000 jobs in Wales that are in some way dependent on European trade, which is vital for the nation.
With @David_Cameron @GEAviation to make the case for why the Welsh economy is stronger inside the EU single market pic.twitter.com/Au7EmEItN9
- Stephen Crabb (@scrabbmp) February 26, 2016
The Prime Minister also said that “above all Wales benefits from being part of the United Kingdom that is in the single market for trade, for investments, for jobs.”
Trade with the EU amounted to 50% of the exports and 42% of the imports of Wales in the period between 2014 and 2015, according to the statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs. “Don’t risk the uncertainty. Don’t take a leap in the dark,” warned David Cameron.
Originally published on Cardiff News Plus on February 29, 2016
