Supermarket chain Aldi has announced that it plans to lift limits on the numbers of vegetables customers can purchase, starting on Monday.
A brief statement from the retailer today (Saturday) said: “From Monday (13th March), Aldi will remove all purchasing restrictions on fresh produce - including limits on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.”
Aldi imposed customer purchase limits on certain salad vegetables over two weeks ago, February 22 alongside several other major supermarket chains.
Aldi, Tesco, ASDA and Morrisons were among the supermarkets to impose the limits, blaming bad weather abroad for the low supplies of certain fresh veg.
On February 22 an Aldi spokesperson said: “We are limiting purchases of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes to three units per person to ensure that as many customers as possible can buy what they need.”
Clive Black, a top analyst at broker Shore Capital, said bad weather in Spain, where a lot of our produce comes from at this time of year, had come at a low point in the UK’s growing season.
It has resulted in a “perfect storm leading to sky-high prices for tomatoes and cucumbers,” said Mr Black.
He echoed warnings that restrictions to supplies could drag on for “weeks.”
Industry experts previously warned the crisis could last until as late as April, with Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium trade body, saying the issues were likely to last a "few weeks".
Suppliers in Morocco and Spain, which are two of the UK's biggest suppliers over the winter months, have experienced cold temperatures, heavy rain, and flooding over the past three to four weeks.
This has affected the crops and on top of this, the bad weather has caused several ferries which transport the vegetables to the UK to be halted.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said Britain typically imports 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of lettuces from December to March.
Another reason for the reduced supplies has also been down to rising energy costs for British growers.
British farmers are struggling to power their greenhouses which are used to grow specific crops during the colder months.
The British Retail Consortium said shortages were expected to last a few weeks until the UK growing season begins and retailers found alternative suppliers.
But the easing of restrictions at Aldi hopefully indicates that stocks are recovering, with a return to service as usual in supermarkets across Britain in the near future.
