Asda and Morrisons limit sales of fruit and vegetableson February 21, 2023 at 3:22 pm

Asda and Morrisons are putting limits on purchases of certain fruit and vegetables as supermarkets face shortages of fresh produce.

Asda is limiting sales of items such as tomatoes, peppers and salad bags to a maximum quantity of three.

Meanwhile Morrisons will put limits of two on products like cucumbers.

Pictures of empty supermarket shelves have been circulating on social media, although some retailers say they will not be restricting sales.

Extreme weather in Spain and north Africa, including floods, snow and hail, have affected harvests.

An Asda spokesperson said: “Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa.”

The supermarket said other fruit and vegetables affected included cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflowers and raspberry punnets.

Morrisons said tomatoes, lettuce and peppers were affected at its shops.

However, Tesco said it was not putting buying limits on fresh produce.

And a Marks & Spencer spokesman said that while the group was not immune from supply issues, it had mitigated them by sourcing from different markets.

Andrew Opie, director of Food and Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium said the disruption was expected to last for “a few weeks”.

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,” he added.

Extreme weather is one of many factors which has been causing problems in the supply of some crops and during this time of year, a significant proportion of what the UK consumes usually comes from Spain and northern Africa.

The supply of crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers has been affected by unusually cold weather in southern Spain, while in Morocco, which is often the usual fall-back to purchase extra produce, floods have affected yields and storms have led to ferries being delayed or cancelled.

In the UK and Netherlands, farmers have cut back on their use of greenhouses to grow winter crops due to higher electricity prices.

Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, which represents around 700 businesses said costs from fuel, energy, packaging and distribution costs were also having an impact for producers.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the UK has been bearing the brunt of the shortages, with little sign of empty shelves in other European countries.

Industry sources suggested the UK may be suffering because of lower domestic production and more complex supply chains, as well as a price-sensitive market. But they said Brexit was unlikely to be a factor.

The main impact of new border procedures for fruit and vegetable imports will not be felt until January 2024 – while imports from Morocco, which is outside the EU, are already subject to border checks.

Ken Mortimer, managing director of Heritage Fine Food Company in Wiltshire, a wholesaler which supplies restaurants, cafes and schools in the south west of England, said many UK businesses have contracts to buy fixed quantities of imported produce.

But when they need more, they have to buy it on the open market and prices have been prohibitively high.

“It’s not Brexit”, says Mr Mortimer “Or at least, I don’t think so”.

The BBC has also contacted business body, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) for a response.

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