The largest grocer in Britain, Tesco, has begun rationing purchases of salad vegetables due to a supply shortage, according to an announcement by the company on Wednesday. It now joins fellow grocers Asda, Morrisons, and Aldi, all of which have been forced to limit purchases of vegetables as the supply of them has tightened.
In the announcement, Tesco said it would be limiting the purchases of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers to three per shopper. The company noted the limits were a precautionary measure, to avoid some shoppers being unable to purchase any of the items.
The Asda supermarket chain has set a three per person limit on eight different products, including raspberries and broccoli, as Morrisons placed a two-per-person limit on four different items, including broccoli. Aldi, the budget supermarket chain also imposed temporary limits of three items per customer on tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
There are two reasons behind the shortages, according to experts. The main reason is that farmers in Morocco and Spain, which supply most of the UK’s fresh vegetables over the winter, have been experiencing a cold wave combined with excessive rain and flooding for the previous month, and that has prevented harvests and stymied deliveries. The second difficulty has arisen among local UK growers, who have been unable to keep their greenhouses heated during the power crisis due to the cost of fuel.
The British Retail Consortium, which acts as the representative for all UK supermarkets, says supply constraints will continue for the next “few weeks,” until the beginning of the growing season, when shops will be able to find alternative suppliers.
Teresa Coffey, the Secretary of State for the Environment, recommended that shoppers should purchase turnips and other locally sourced vegetables which would be in season, in place of the overseas-grown vegetables which are experiencing supply issues.
She said, “A lot of people would be eating turnips right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce, and tomatoes and similar. But I’m conscious that consumers want a year-round choice and that is what our supermarkets, food producers and growers around the world try to satisfy.”
Analysts are warning that the shortages will likely produce price increases in the coming weeks.
The shortages could not come at a worse time, as UK food prices are already rising at the swiftest rate in over four decades, with December prices alone rising 16.8% year over year.
