In recent months, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed a recurring theme of empty shelves in the fruit and veg supermarket aisles. The nationwide concerns over a lack of produce in stores is an extremely pressing issue. We are undoubtedly facing a climate crisis, and we should expect the situation to get worse before it gets better.
Initially, supermarkets such as Asda and Morrisons have notably been placing limitations on fruit and vegetable purchasing, capping items such as peppers and tomatoes at three per customer. From Tuesday, Morrisons said limits of two on products like cucumbers would be introduced in their stores across the UK. After these companies lead the way, others are following suit, with Aldi and Tesco introducing similar purchase restraints, and photos of their empty shelves have been circulating around social media in the last few days.
So why is this happening? What’s changed? And should we be concerned? We have to consider the seasonal effects here. During the winter months, much of the UK’s food import comes from areas such as Southern Spain and North Africa, where there have been devastating weather conditions. Unusually cold weather conditions and floods, snow and hail have affected harvests. In Morocco, crop yields have been destroyed by severe flooding, and major storms have affected the running of ferries, ultimately compromising trade. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the UK imports around 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of lettuces during winter, most of which come from Spain and North Africa. And it’s not just fruit and vegetable resources being compromised. A lack of imported olive oil from Spain is a continuing issue too.
On our home turf, the tropical heat waves of summer and the cold bursts of frost this winter have undoubtedly had an enormous effect on crop growth. Tim O’Malley, director of Nationwide Produce, warned that the notable shortages of cabbage, carrots, parsnips and cauliflower in the UK may force prices to increase, despite the 16.7% food price climb we saw in January - the fastest rate in 45 years. Rising costs of potatoes are affecting chip shops and potato farms.
The cost of living and increased energy prices have a part to play in all of this too. Egg farmers are closing businesses due to the running costs that are making their businesses unviable. Due to higher electricity prices, farmers in the UK and the Netherlands are limiting their use of greenhouses to grow winter crops.
But there is good news! Whilst suppliers are seeing inevitable cutbacks on contracted volumes, it seems promising that Dutch growers will be looking to contract this year. And although it’s perhaps too soon to tell, early forecasts suggest that this summer will bring less extreme weather than in 2022.
