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For a British honey shop, Brexit uncertainty still looms

Holiday sales will help From Field and Flower, but Brexit could bring tariffs of up to 40%.

Samantha Wallace sources most of her honey from small producers in Europe. Above, worker bees process honey while others seal the honeycomb full of honey with white wax.
Samantha Wallace sources most of her honey from small producers in Europe. Above, worker bees process honey while others seal the honeycomb full of honey with white wax.
Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images

In London’s Borough Market, specialty honey shop From Field and Flower is gearing up for the holidays. So far, sales are good, despite the massive uncertainty of Brexit.

Samantha Wallace owns the shop with her husband. She met “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal while he was on a reporting trip to London back in March. Since then, the United Kingdom has extended the deadline for Brexit yet again, elected Boris Johnson as prime minister and still grapples with the economic unknowns of leaving the European Union.

 
Samantha Wallace of From Field and Flower, a shop at Borough Market that sells specialty honey.
Janet Nguyen/Marketplace

Wallace sources most of her honey from small producers in Europe. With Brexit, she could be facing new tariffs of 30% to 40% to import the product. She spoke with Kai Ryssdal about navigating the holidays in these uncertain times and what she’ll do if Brexit does happen on its latest deadline, Jan. 31, 2020.

“We work with small producers, which is why our honey is exceptional quality,” Wallace said. “So we are very loyal to them, and we will continue to try to support them, but it does just depend on the impact of Brexit.”

Click the audio player above to hear the interview.

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