Tesco and Aldi join in UK rationing of vegetables

Some stores here are also seeing shortages stemming from Spain and north Africa and retailers are looking at alternative sources of supply, according to Retail Ireland.

Tesco in Britain has joined discounter Aldi in limiting purchases of some fruit and vegetables in the UK after difficult harvests due to cold weather in southern Spain and north Africa. 

Both retailers are capping purchases of peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes to three units per person. The moves follow Morrisons, which has a limit of two products and Asda, with a restriction of three. 

The British Retail Consortium expects the disruption to last for a few weeks as supermarkets manage the supply chain issues. Shoppers in the UK have been posting pictures on social media of empty shelves in vegetable aisles across multiple supermarkets. 

Some shoppers are contrasting shortages in the UK with full shelves elsewhere in Europe, raising the question of whether Brexit has a role to play in the lack of availability. Agricultural greenhouses in the UK have been “hurt horribly” by Brexit, Justin King, former chief executive of Sainsbury, told LBC radio.

Still, some stores here are also seeing shortages stemming from Spain and north Africa and retailers are looking at alternative sources of supply, according to Retail Ireland.

Grocers depend more on imports around this time of year, particularly from sunnier places such as Spain. Domestic production normally only starts in late March or April and supplies have been hit by labour shortages and the higher cost of energy and fertiliser.

Restrictions

Asda, the UK’s third-largest supermarket, was first to introduce restrictions this week, with limits across tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower, and raspberries. Morrisons’ cap applies to tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.

Colder weather than usual in Spain and northern Africa has led to produce growing more slowly than usual and preventing it from ripening. Almost every retailer in the UK sources from these warmer regions.

In the Spanish region of Almeria, production of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers fell by more than 20% in the first two weeks of February, according to Fepex, Spain’s federation of fruit and veg exporters. A warm start to winter followed by a cold snap has hampered growing.

In the UK, some farmers using greenhouses to grow salad vegetables have lowered heating to save on expensive energy bills, leading to less output.

• Bloomberg 

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