‘There will be fewer British tomatoes on the shelves’: soaring energy costs force growers to quit

Richard Diplock, the managing director of the Green House Growers, inspects some tomatoes in West Sussex. Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

Lee Stiles saw 10 growers leave “London’s salad bowl” last year as they struggled to make ends meet. He expects a similar number in his Lea Valley Growers Association to shut up shop this year, as costly energy bills push them under.

The increase in prices threatens to open up a new front in the salad crisis, which resulted in supermarkets having to limit purchases of items including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers during a cold spell in southern Spain and north Africa in February.