As supply issues that led to widespread shortages of fresh produce begin to ease, supermarkets are starting to drop customer limits on buying certain fruit and vegetables. Lidl is the latest to
confirm that it is lifting all restrictions on fruit and veg by Monday, while Asda is only keeping restrictions for customers buying tomatoes and peppers.
According to supermarkets, availability has improved as expected, even amid an increase in demand. Asda said that overall availability had improved, and supplies of tomatoes and peppers are expected to be back to normal within a couple of weeks. Similarly, Lidl confirmed that availability remained strong despite the increase in demand, and said it had been closely reviewing the situation.
Shoppers started seeing shortages of tomatoes around February 20, with retailers attributing the problem to a combination of bad weather and related transport issues in North Africa and Europe. The shortages quickly spread to other products, including cucumbers, peppers, and lettuce. Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl limited purchases of peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers to three items per person, while Morrisons set a limit of two per customer on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and peppers.
The production problems began in January, when unusually cold nighttime temperatures in Morocco affected tomato ripening. Subsequently, growers and suppliers in Morocco had to contend with heavy rain, flooding, and cancelled ferries, all of which affected the volume of fruit reaching Britain. Supplies from Spain, Britain’s other major winter source, were also badly affected by the weather. These issues were compounded by ferry cancellations due to the weather hitting lorry deliveries. Domestic producers also reported having to cut their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey made headlines when she suggested British consumers should eat more turnips instead of imported food. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said shortages of some fruit and vegetables in UK supermarkets could be “the tip of the iceberg”. According to Deputy President Tom Bradshaw, a reliance on imports has left the UK vulnerable to “shock weather events”. He said the UK had “hit a tipping point” and needed to “take command of the food we produce” amid “volatility around the world” caused by the war in Europe and climate change.
As supply issues begin to ease, supermarkets are starting to drop customer limits on buying certain fruit and vegetables, and availability is expected to be back to normal within a few weeks. While the recent shortages have been attributed to bad weather and transport problems in North Africa and Europe, the National Farmers’ Union has suggested that the UK’s reliance on imports has left the country vulnerable to “shock weather events”. Despite this, supermarkets are confident that they will be able to meet customer demand for fresh produce going forward. Photo by David Wright, Wikimedia commons.