Several factors are behind the shortage of foods in UK supermarkets, explains Abhi Ghadge, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at Cranfield School of Management
“Frequent shortages of food items in the UK’s supermarkets have raised questions regarding the long-term availability of food in the UK.
“However, this broader issue links several aspects, from changing climatic conditions to Brexit to soaring energy and labour costs. For example, British and European farmers have scaled back on producing certain foods, such as tomatoes, due to the rising cost of heating greenhouses and labour.
“The shortages of food items in the UK are expected to continue with fresh salad (including cucumbers), cabbages and cauliflowers in the next few days. However, some of these food items are grown outside the EU; thus, purely blaming Brexit for the shortages is inappropriate.
Supermarkets need to think of innovative solutions rather than just blaming suppliers, Ghadge adds:
Local sourcing and alternate suppliers are some of the commonly used supply chain strategies to manage such issues. The UK government needs to build resilience around these recurring issues associated with food shortages. Investing in in-house greenhouse projects and looking for availability beyond Europe may provide some solutions.”
Closing summary
Time for a recap…
Asda and Morrisons are bringing in rationing of salad items including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers amid shortages caused by poor weather in southern Europe and north Africa.
Asda is limiting shoppers to three items each on eight fresh produce lines – including broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and lettuces – to ensure all customers can get what they need.
Morrisons is putting limits of two per item on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers from Wednesday. A spokesperson said:
“Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa.
The British Retail Consortium, which represents all the big grocers, expects the supply disruption to last a few weeks.
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