Supermarkets Rationing Fruit and Veg

If you have noticed some gaps on the shelves during your supermarket shop then it’s likely down to the shortages of some imported products such as peppers, lettuces, onions and tomatoes. The crops have been hit by a combination of the bad weather in Europe and Africa and poor planning and lack of investment by the supermarkets. This time of year, we normally import the bulk of our fruit and veg from abroad. Unfortunately, the poor weather conditions for this time of year have meant we are seeing less imports causing gaps on the shelves. Bad planning and a lack of investment in UK crops that could have been grown under glass have made the situation worse. This has caused Asda to cap the sales of lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflowers and raspberry punnets to three per customer, along with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Morrisons have also set limits of two on cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers. With Sainsbury’s and Tesco also announcing limits of what customers can buy, it seems most of the UK supermarkets have imposed limitations on fruit and vegetables. The shortages won’t last forever, with the UK harvest starting soon but for now you might find that you lack the ingredients for your salad bowl.