The Yemen-based Iran-backed rebels initially indicated they were aiming at ships connected to Israel, in retaliation for its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

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The attacks have caused most shipping firms using the key trade route, which heads towards the Suez Canal, to redirect vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. This adds roughly 10 to 14 days to shipment times, as well as increased costs for shipping firms.

Sparsh Agarwal, owner of several tea gardens in Darjeeling in India and founder of Dorje Teas, told the i newspaper in December that tea shipments were being stalled due to the disruption.

“We sent shipments to the US and Europe two weeks ago, but they are still in Bombay port and have not been picked up yet,” he told the newspaper at the time.

The US and UK have launched strikes on the Houthis in a bid to stop the recent wave of attacks, but the attacks continue.

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The latest shortage comes after widespread egg shortages across Britain last year which were blamed on a bird flu outbreak and rising costs for feed and energy.

The war in Ukraine also affected food supplies as the region is a major producer of wheat which is a main ingredient of chicken feed.

All major British supermarkets imposed a limit of a maximum of two or three boxes of eggs per customer as many shoppers faced empty shelves.

Britons have so far largely avoided tea shortages in recent times, though Twinings suffered “challenges” with sourcing its lapsang souchong blend last April which led to it being replaced with an imitation that angered some fans.

Last year, Tetley narrowly avoided a tea shortage crisis after workers in the GMB Union accepted a new pay deal that called off planned strike action for 200 workers at Tata Consumer Products in Teesside, northern England, the only producer of Tetley tea bags for the UK and Canada.

The Telegraph, London

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