The UK is running out of fresh fruit and vegetables! Supermarkets are already rationing, customers can only buy a few pieces.
The UK’s biggest supermarket chains, Tesco and Aldi, have already rationed sales at their branches and introduced strict limits. No more than three tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers are sold per customer.
The third-largest grocery store, Asda, also rations lettuce, loosely packed lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and small bowls of raspberries, in addition to those three basic cooking ingredients.
Maximum limit: Only 2 pieces per customer
The supply bottleneck hits Morrisons even harder, which is why only two pieces of tomato, bell pepper, cucumber and lettuce can be bought here. As the BBC further reports, other chains have also been affected but have yet to officially enforce rationing. It should be noted that this is a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, “Sky News” reports that the island’s biggest tomato producer, APS Produce, is warning of bottlenecks until at least the end of April. The British Farmers’ Union had previously warned of the impact of a decline in domestic food production.
Cold winter in southern Spain
Now the British are being presented with the bill for that. The government blames extreme weather and high energy costs for the misery. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), 95% of tomatoes and 90% of lettuce are imported from Spain and North Africa during the winter months.
But in the province of Almeria in southern Spain, commonly known as the kitchen garden of Europe, exceptionally low temperatures currently prevail.
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Country down in North Africa
At the same time, numerous cultivated areas in Morocco are affected by flooding, which is why the country has imposed a ban on the export of tomatoes, onions and potatoes to West African countries. That should at least maintain export capacity to better-paying Europe, but storms have caused delays and cancellations on several ferry services.
And: for local farmers and in the Netherlands, the costs of producing vegetables have skyrocketed with energy prices, because greenhouses in both countries still need to be heated.
it will take weeks
According to the BRC and the BBC, supply problems in supermarkets are expected to continue “for a few more weeks”. After that, post-winter farming could fill in the gaps.
Supermarkets on the island across the English Channel had to resort to this drastic measure as early as November. At that time, eggs ran out due to the high price of birds and the avian flu. Supermarkets are rationing sales and many bars have changed their menus.
Read more: Rationed! The English are running out of balls now
Browsing account rcp time 23.02.2023, 16:34 | Act: 02/23/2023, 4:34 pm