The UK government will hold a meeting with supermarket bosses to address the country’s chronic vegetable shortage. The meeting, to be hosted by Food Minister Mark Spencer, comes amid concerns that rationing may continue for several more weeks.
Poor weather conditions in Morocco and Spain have severely impacted trading routes, leading to empty supermarket shelves and the imposition of purchase limits for certain vegetables by retailers such as Aldi, Morrisons, Tesco and Asda.
The vegetables in short supply include cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, lettuces and other everyday greens. Even turnips, which were suggested as an alternative by Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, are in low supply.
Spencer emphasized the importance of fresh produce being available to families during their weekly shop. He called on supermarket executives to outline plans to restock the shelves and prevent a recurrence of the situation.
Meanwhile, former environment secretary George Eustice noted that rising fuel costs had driven supermarket buyers to source crops from farmers using “primitive” techniques in Spain, which had been affected by poor weather.
He added that there was not much that the government could do immediately to address the situation, and that the shortage was likely to persist for another three or four weeks.
While local greengrocers and market stalls have remained fully stocked, the spiralling wholesale costs mean they are either making very little profit or passing the increases on to customers, who are consequently buying fewer products.
»Ministers to hold crisis talks with supermarket bosses over the UK’s chronic vegetable shortage«
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