Asda and Aldi in Highbridge plus Tesco in Burnham-On-Sea have become the first local supermarkets to start rationing fresh produce including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers amid nationwide shortages caused by poor weather in Europe and north Africa as experts warn that the problems could last for weeks.
Asda says it is limiting shoppers to three items each on eight fresh produce lines – including tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and lettuces – to ensure all customers could get what they need.
A spokesperson says: “Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa.”
“We have introduced a temporary limit of three of each product on a very small number of fruit and vegetable lines, so customers can pick up the products they are looking for.”
Signs advising shoppers of the new rules appeared on shop shelves at the Highbridge store on Tuesday (February 21st), as pictured here.
UK producers say supplies from British farms would also be hit as many have cut back planting amid the rising cost of heating greenhouses to grow salad crops.
The National Farmers’ Union president, Minette Batters, says further rationing of salad items is on the cards because of the impact of higher energy costs on British growers.
She told the NFU’s annual conference on Tuesday: “Domestic production of salad, including cucumbers and tomatoes, has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1985.”
Tesco’s store in Burnham-On-Sea is also currently affected with several empty shelves in the fresh fruit and veg section, pictured below.
The nationwide issues come after importers said that supplies of salad and field crops had been affected by a mixture of unseasonable weather in Spain and southern Europe and storms in the Mediterranean combined with a reduction in the amount of crops planted in heated glasshouses in the Netherlands, another big producer country, as energy bills have soared.
Industry insiders said that the availability of produce is down by between 30% and 40% on some crops, with the pepper harvest having fallen 70% in Spain, according to the catering supplier Reynolds. Wholesale prices have also shot up to three times normal levels in some cases.
Andrew Opie at the British Retail Consortium says disruption on fruit and vegetables coming from southern Europe and north Africa is expected to last a few weeks but he added: “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.”
