Greengrocers in south Bristol have spoken out about the tomato shortages impacting stock levels and prices across the UK. The sales of some fruit and vegetables have been limited by most of the country's largest supermarkets, including Asda, Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco.
The shortages - impacting tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and cucumbers - has been put down to “difficult weather conditions” in Europe and Northern Africa”, according to the British Retail Consortium. Harvest is expected to be disrupted for the next few weeks before the country will move into Dutch and UK growing seasons, which will make it easier to stock the shelves.
Smaller grocers have more buying power than the supermarkets, making it marginally easier for them to source fresh produce, but are not able to source as much as they normally would. Ashton Fruit Shop owner, Mike Rudge, said fruit and vegetable shortages are 'something independent retailers have been going through for months'.
