Morrisons is rationing peppers to two packs per person. It comes due to the low stock levels of peppers with the cold weather in Spain having slowed down the peppers' growth.
This has led to the supermarket giant limiting shoppers to buying only two packs per customer. This brand new rule has been put in place across every Morrisons in the country and customers have to follow it, reports Manchester Evening News.
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Morrisons have said that it hopes to lift the rule in the next week or so as supplies are improving. Also hit by supply problems is Waitrose, with officials saying the company is working hard with suppliers to get a full range back on shelves and expects stock levels to stabilise in the coming weeks as the UK moves into its growing season.
British supermarkets source peppers exclusively from Spain during the winter months. British Retail Consortium director of food and sustainability Andrew Opie said: “Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables, including peppers.
"A few stores have implemented temporary limits on how much customers can buy to ensure availability for everyone. However, availability should improve for those impacted in the coming weeks as we enter UK growing season."
Earlier this year many supermarkets had no choice but to ration several fruit and vegetables due to bad weather across Europe and Africa which caused shortages. On February 20 there were tomato shortages as supermarkets said it was down to a combination of bad weather and related transport issues in north Africa and Europe were causing significant supply problems.
The shortages continued to other fresh fruit and veg such as cucumber, peppers and lettuce. Farmers urged that retailers weren’t paying them enough to grow produce, which also had the shortages. Items like tomatoes were also affected by the cold weather in Spain, which also affected supply from Morocco.
In February, Lee Stiles, secretary of the Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA), told the BBC: "The majority of tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are not going to be around in big volumes until May."
In the same month, a sign was left out in one Morrisons shop that read: "Availability across our tomato range has been significantly impacted by adverse weather conditions across Spain and Morocco. The current shortage is likely to improve within a couple of weeks."
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