Fresh fruit and vegetable entrepreneur Franco Fubini knows all about the importance of goods arriving on time, as Brexit threatens to delay delivery of produce into and out of Britain.

However for Fubini's company Natoora -- a wholesaler, retailer and food producer -- stockpiling fresh fruits and vegetables is not an option. 

"For us, the freshness of the product is essential," CEO Fubini told AFP, speaking from company headquarters and warehousing facilities housed in a viaduct on a site once occupied by London's first railway terminus in Bermondsey.

Whether his imported avocados, peaches and tomatoes will continue to arrive at the capital's finest eateries on time is far from certain as lawmakers prepare for next week's crucial UK parliamentary vote on the Brexit divorce deal.

"There is a huge amount of product that doesn't grow in the UK, primarily a lot of the fruit," said the Argentinian-Italian, who founded the high-end and seasonally-driven business 14 years ago.

"We are forced to bring product from the continent."