UK Supermarkets rationing fruit and vegetables

Tuesday, 28 February 2023 10:20 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 28 February 2023 10:20 AM ]

Empty fruit and vegetable shelves at an Asda in east London on February 21, 2023. A shortage of tomatoes affecting UK supermarkets is widening to other fruit and vegetables and is likely to last weeks, retailers have warned. Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images.

Supermarket giants in the UK are now only allowing three tomatoes and other salad ingredients per customer, and where there is availability, you'll have to pay a premium, especially, for out of season fresh produce.

Heat waves and extreme temperatures in Spain, one of Europe's biggest food producers, meant fewer crops to harvest.

UK supermarkets ration fruit, vegetables

Several UK supermarkets start rationing the amount of tomatoes, cucumbers and blueberry punnets customers can buy.

2022 was the second hottest year ever on record in Europe, heat waves and extreme temperatures in Spain, one of Europe's biggest food producers, have meant fewer crops to harvest.

The same problem has also affected countries such as Morocco in North Africa.

But the UK has its own well established food industry, one important component of which is greenhouses, many hectares of which now lay bare.

UK's supermarket shelves have been left bare of fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly tomatoes and cucumbers, which could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned.

UK’s fruit and vegetable shortage could be ‘tip of iceberg’, farming union warns

Supermarket shelves have been left bare of some fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly tomatoes and cucumbers, in the UK, which could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) says.

There is a problem of course with the high price of gas that is used to heat up these greenhouses. They do require quite a lot of gas input, and that's quite expensive.

Another problem is that the supermarkets are also being very tough on pricing, so it's not easy to then raise your prices and get what you want from the supermarkets.

And so rather than produce anything at a loss some producers have obviously decided not to produce at all.

Keith Pilbeam, Economics Professor

More than 70 percent of UK households fear they will be severely hit by the cost-of-living crisis in the first part of 2023.

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And the UK faces another particular issue. Most of its fruit and vegetables come from the European Union. The country's exit from the bloc has meant extra costs and bureaucracy added to the strain especially on the supply of perishable goods.

Brexit has caused a shortage of labor. And a shortage of labor means a shortage of fruit and vegetables, at the end of the day, More bureaucracy and Milberg see means more costs and more costs, meaning less profit, and therefore lower UK production. It's as simple as that.

More bureaucracy and more bureaucracy means more costs, and more costs mean less profit, and therefore lower UK production. It's as simple as that.

Keith Pilbeam, Economics Professor

About one in five British adults turned to eating food past its use-by date.

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The solution, food producing organizations say, is for the government to provide more support such as replacing high carbon fertilizers with low carbon alternatives or investing more in soil free indoor growing techniques such as vertical farming.