London: The UK is facing a shortage of vegetables, especially tomatoes, due to lower crop yields in southern Europe and northern Africa. The supply of vegetables to the country’s supermarkets has been disrupted, with two of Britain’s leading grocers forced to limit what customers can buy. Britain’s third largest grocer Asda said it was imposing a temporary 3-pack limit on purchases of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower, and raspberries. A company spokeswoman told Reuters: ‘Like other supermarkets, we are facing sourcing challenges on some products grown in southern Spain and northern Africa.’
Grocery company Morrison said that it has also imposed a limit of 2 items per customer on the purchase of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and chilies. Social media was abuzz with pictures of empty fruit and vegetable shelves, with tomatoes notably missing. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents all major supermarkets including market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) and No. 2 Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), said the supply issue is widespread. Bad weather has disrupted the harvest of many crops in southern Europe and northern Africa, disrupting the supply of vegetables.
BRC official Andrew Opie said, “The supply disruption is expected to last for a few weeks. Supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure fresh produce reaches customers. Grocers said winter sales in the UK and the Netherlands were lower due to higher energy costs. The situation was worsened by crop production. The UK typically imports 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of other vegetables and fruits used in salads from December to March, according to BRC figures. However, in summer the domestic production is sufficient to meet the demand.
The UK is particularly dependent on Spain, and to a lesser extent, on Morocco, which earlier this month banned the export of tomatoes, onions, and potatoes to West African countries in a bid to lower domestic prices and keep exports to Europe unhindered Was given Spanish producers also expressed concern. The Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers’ Organization of Almeria, Coexfal, said in a statement: “The situation is starting to become worrying, as some companies are having problems meeting their customers’ schedules. James Bailey, executive director of the supermarket Waitrose, said in a statement. Said that bad weather is to blame for the supply disruption, rather than Brexit.
