Due to a 'perfect storm' of bad weather and the rising cost of living, tomatoes have become nigh on impossible to find in the supermarkets. Shoppers across the country have been sharing their frustration on social media after being unable get hold of the fruit and veg at their local stores.
Photos and videos have been posted online showing the bare aisles, with some people saying they visited multiple supermarkets with no luck.
READ MORE: Why is there a tomato shortage?
Supermarket giant Morrisons have explained to customers that the bad weather in Spain and Morocco - where the majority of our tomatoes come from - has "significantly" impacted their availability in stores, hence the shortage.
Rising energy costs have also been blamed, with reports stating that tomato growers in the UK are struggling to heat their greenhouses due to lack of funds.
But how severe is the dearth in fresh tomatoes at the local supermarkets near you? We visited Aldi, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Lidl closest to us here at the M.E.N office to take a look.
The first thing we noticed was that at every store we visited, there were multiple empty shelves - a marked difference to the sea of red you are used to when looking for the fruit.
Asda on Hollins Road in Oldham gave the best offering with packets of salad tomatoes still on offer and some multipacks too. A similar pattern was found at the Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Lidl that we visited - however it looked like they were all down to their last stock.
Each store was plastered with an apology that they are 'temporarily out of stock' but if you were quick enough you'd be able to find what you were looking for.
However, Tesco and Aldi fared the worse in our search. The huge Tesco on Aston Road West in Failsworth had no tomatoes whatsoever and the same could be said for the Aldi on Sisson Street also in Failsworth.
Have you struggled to find fresh produce recently?
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