Reports are emerging of empty shelves in Bristol as supermarkets across the country face fresh food shortages. Shoppers in Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi and Asda noticed a lack of tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, lettuce and peppers over the weekend, with the supply issues expected to continue.
Pictured are the bare shelves at Sainsbury's Winterstoke Road branch on Monday (February 20) with no tomatoes, peppers and other salad items being sold. The reason the supermarket gave on a sign by the shelves explained how supply was being disrupted by poor weather in Europe and Africa.
Customers shared their findings on Twitter with @Fatmango reporting "no fresh veg at all" on Saturday (February 18). Addressing Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi, @Narlz_da_bass said: "Seems to be a serious lack of fresh tomatoes and peppers in your Bristol supermarkets… what’s going on?"
Read more: How Bristol's buses could change if they were franchised
@Janeenie added that there was "nothing" on the fresh food aisles in Sainsbury's and that Aldi looked rather sparse. "Never seen this since Brexit," they added.
In Bedminster, Ashton Fruit Shop reported that the price of tomatoes had almost doubled in price at wholesale, although it has tomatoes and peppers in stock. "This is something independent retailers have been going through for months," the shop said on social media.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) maintained that harvests had been hit by "difficult weather conditions". Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Difficult weather conditions in the South of Europe and Northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes and peppers.
"While disruption is expected to last a few weeks, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce.”
Tomato farmers continue to battle difficult conditions in Spain and Morocco. The Telegraph reported that crops in Morocco have been poor so far in 2023 as the nation faces flooding and cold temperatures. Surging fertiliser prices catalysed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have also hit yields.
In December 2022, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned of food shortages this year after some UK supermarkets were forced to ration eggs to cope with smaller supplies. It said urgent action was needed as energy-intensive crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and pears were on track for their lowest yields since 1985 as growers come under pressure from costs of energy and animal feed.
Tomato production in the UK requires greenhouses to be heated to 20C. British Tomato Growers Association (BGTA) spokeswoman Julie Woolley also warned of these issues last year to The Grocer, saying that rising fuel prices mean that transportation and energy costs are now higher as well as other input costs such as seeds, fertiliser, and feed which have also increased between 100 and 400 per cent.
Up next:
