British supermarkets are running short of peppers after a cold snap in Europe, leading some to limit the number customers can purchase.
In a repeat of the shortages of salad crops in February and March, another bout of unseasonably cold weather in southern Europe has disrupted the harvest of fruit and vegetables, particularly peppers.
As a result, Morrisons is limiting purchases of peppers to two a customer. The supermarket said it hoped to be able to lift the restrictions within the next week or once supplies improved.
Shoppers have been complaining on social media about shortages of peppers, with one customer tweeting a picture of empty shelves at a Waitrose branch in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
The supermarket chain said it was working with suppliers to get its full range back on to shelves. It expects stock levels to stabilise in the coming weeks as more UK-grown produce becomes available.
Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the trade body the British Retail Consortium, said the harvest of some crops in southern Europe, including peppers, had been affected by difficult weather conditions.
“A few stores have implemented temporary limits on how much customers can buy to ensure availability for everyone. However, availability should improve for those impacted in the coming weeks as we enter UK growing season,” Opie said.
During the winter, UK supermarkets source fresh fruit and vegetables from southern Europe and north Africa, and Spain is an important supplier of many crops that stock the shelves of British grocers.
Domestic supplies of produce such as peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce usually take over in late spring as the weather in Britain warms up.
However, soaring energy costs have led to many British growers reducing or delaying the planting of their crops, as they do not want to pay the bills required to heat and light their glasshouses.
Earlier in the year, a string of British supermarkets rationed sales of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers after poor weather in southern Europe and north Africa led to shortages.
Supermarkets including Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl introduced limits on purchases of some fresh salad items after shelves emptied and shoppers complained on social media of lack of availability. Most restrictions remained in place for several weeks until supplies improved.
The National Farmers’ Union warned at the time that a reliance on food imports had left the UK particularly exposed to “shock weather events”.
The union and British growers said they had been cautioning for some time that food producers were facing soaring costs of energy, fertiliser and other necessary items, and in some cases were not being paid enough to cover the cost of production.
Some food importers also argued that the extra costs and bureaucracy created by Brexit put the UK at the back of queue for supplies from European producers when crops were in short supply across the continent.
Brexit has also led to higher transport costs and more paperwork, which can cause delays at the border – a particular problem with perishable produce.
