Shoppers in East Lothian spotted yet another empty fruit and vegetable aisle, with the Lidl in Musselburgh seeing little to no produce on offer.
John Blower, a Musselburgh resident, snapped a picture of the stark reality that began last weekend. This comes after an initial shortage of tomatoes affecting UK supermarkets widened to other fruit and vegetables, due to a combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe.
In recent days, supermarkets across the country have introduced shopper restrictions on certain fresh produce as shops struggle to get supplies due to reported supply chain disruption. These include Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons and Asda.
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Concerning the Musselburgh Lidl shortage, the chain supermarket has been approached for comment.
Confronted with the news of limiting sales of fruit and veg, Uk Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey told farmers: "We can't control the weather in Spain."
Ms Coffey said: "It's important to make sure that we cherish the specialisms that we have in this country.
"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."
Shoppers across the country have questioned the validity of weather and African transport issues as causes, arguing that other countries seem to have fully stocked shelves.
One Twitter user said: "The fresh vegetable shelves in my local Edeka supermarket in Hamburg are as full as ever today in contrast to the empty shelves and rationing in UK supermarkets. Why should levels of product availability be so widely different?"
Another added: "Certainly no shortage of produce in Southern Spain due to 'bad weather'.
Have travelled extensively over the last 5 weeks between Alicante and Almeria. All supermarkets (have shopped most days in Mercadona, Consum, Carrefour etc) crammed with fresh fruit and veg."
British band Simply Red began a thread on the empty shelves, asking their fans on Twitter: "For the sake of balanced fairness can some of our mainland European friends pls post photos of their supermarket food shortages? Tx in advance. #BrexitBenefits "
The replies include hundreds of images of shelves from across the country with a range of fruits and vegetables.
Thérèse Coffey said the issue should be resolved within two to four weeks. She said: “It is important that we try and make sure that we get alternative sourcing options. That is why the department has already been in discussion with the retailers.
“It is why there will be further discussions led by ministers as well, so that we can try and get over this and try and avoid similar situations in the future. Even if we cannot control the weather it is important that we try and make sure the supply continues to not be frustrated in quite the way it has been due to these unusual weather incidents.”
Despite Ms Coffey’s assurances that the shortages are temporary, the Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA) warned they could last several months.
Lee Stiles, secretary of the LGVA, told the BBC: “The majority of tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are not going to be around in big volumes until May.”
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