Supermarkets have begun to drop customer limits on buying certain items of fresh produce as supply issues that led to nationwide shortage on fruit and vegetables are beginning to ease.
Asda has confirmed it has removed their limits of three on cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries. However it has warned that restrictions of three will remain on tomatoes and peppers.
Overall availability had improved as expected, the supermarket said, and they believe the supply issue with tomatoes and peppers will also be resolved in a matter of weeks.
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Shortages on tomatoes began around February 20, with retailers responding that a combination of bad weather and related transport problems in north Africa and Europe were causing significant supply problems.
Shoppers soon began expressing their frustration at empty supermarket shelves as shortages spread to other products such as cucumbers, peppers and lettuces.
This led to food giants such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl limiting the purchases of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers to three items per person, while Morrisons set a limit of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.
At the time, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents UK supermarkets, said: “Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes and peppers. While disruption is expected to last a few weeks, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce.”
Growers and suppliers in Morocco then had to contend with heavy rain, flooding and cancelled ferries – all of which have affected the volume of fruit reaching Britain. Supplies from Britain’s other major winter source, Spain, were also been badly affected by weather.
Production problems in Morocco began in January with unusually cold night-time temperatures that affected tomato ripening. These were compounded by ferry cancellations due to bad weather, hitting lorry deliveries.
Producers have also reported having to cut back on their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey made headlines when, asked about the shortages, she suggested that 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”.
Deputy president Tom Bradshaw said 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.
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