Britain is in the grip of a tomato shortage, with shelves in Liverpool's supermarkets empty of fresh produce.
Shoppers across the UK have been frustrated by the lack of fresh food, a staple in many meals from sandwiches to pasta. Morrisons recently explained the shortage, claiming bad weather in Spain and Morocco is "significantly" impacting the fruits availability in stores.
Spain and Morocco are where the majority of Morrisons' tomatoes come from. The supermarket has said the current shortage is "likely to improve in the coming weeks".
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Energy prices have also been blamed. Tomato production in the UK requires greenhouses to be heated to 20C, leading to claims UK tomato growers are struggling to heat their greenhouses due to lack of funds.
To see how bad the problem really was, we took a quick tour around shops and supermarkets in Liverpool City Centre. We started our fact finding mission in the Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local.
There was no sign of fresh tomatoes here, with missing limes and lettuce thrown in for good measure too.
Hoping that the problem might be confined to smaller shops, we headed to some larger outlets. We had no luck either in these places either.
In fact, the problem was even more stark, as the large sections dedicated to massive amounts of fresh produce lay worryingly empty. The Tesco on Hanover Street was home to a busy lunchtime crowd, but there was no fresh tomatoes for them to choose from.
The only tomatoes available here were pre-packaged baby plum tomatoes. It was the same story in the Tesco on Lord Street, the Aldi at St John's Shopping Centre and the large Lidl by Lime Street Station.
Let's hope Morrisons is right, and the situation really does improve. Otherwise, one of the most popular fruits may be lacking from our handmade BLT's for some time.
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