*Cucumber £2 – bag of tomatoes at 65p, now cost £2.50
*UK imports 90% of tomatoes from Netherlands, Morocco, and Spain
*UK fruit and veg import £10.5 billion from EU in 2021
A finger has been pointed to Spain, due to the vegetables shortage in the UK – with rations and skyrocketing prices in some quarters.
“A cucumber cost £2, I normally get a bag of tomatoes at 65p, now they cost me £2.50,” Hilary Turner Hesketh told The Leader.
Britain is faced with shortages of multiple fresh food items, prompting Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons to limit purchases of certain lines, including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
Brexit is deemed a reason playing a part in the food shortage, with other factors linked to climate change, hitting the UK imports during the winter, along with soaring energy costs.
Salad crops, including cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce are most affected. Supplies of aubergines and lemons have also been hit, cited due to field crops in Spain including broccoli and lettuce being in short supply, with a knock on effect In the UK.
Vega Baja
In Los Montesinos in the Vega Baja vast fields of broccoli are being cut, with imports heading to the UK.
Frost has damaged production of brassicas, especially cabbage and cauliflower in Spain.
The war in Ukraine has caused energy prices in Europe to spike. Growing tomatoes in greenhouses (in the UK and Netherlands) is so expensive a lot of farmers haven’t done it this year, further cutting supplies.
The UK imported £200 million of food and live animals from Ukraine in 2021, accounting for 0.5% of all imports of this commodity, which primarily included imports of cereals (£130 million) such as wheat, maize, barley, and rice.
The UK import data in 2021, says fresh vegetables imports volume were measured at approximately 1.98 million metric tons.
In the UK it is often cheaper to import foods from other countries, rather than grow them locally.
In 2020, the top partner countries the UK imported vegetables included Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France and Belgium.
Today the UK are the only European country with empty supermarket shelves with food shortages, due to low food production, with the supermarket sector ‘hurt horribly’ by Brexit, according to the chief executive of Sainsbury’s.
The UK imports more than 90% of its tomatoes from three main countries, the Netherlands, Morocco, and Spain.
The leading food commodity the UK imported from the European Union (EU) in 2021 was fruit and vegetables, with an import value of almost £10.5 billion.
Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, said: “The cost of living crisis has seen food and drink prices put huge pressure on household budgets.
“It is no surprise to see many people turning to discounters like Aldi when our research shows they could save up to £22 on a typical shop.”
In Evesham, tomatoes, yellow and red cherries are £8.99 a kilo, large vine tomatoes £6.49 a kilo and classic loose tomatoes £3.99 a kilo and £2.49 for three bell peppers, red, green and yellow.
South Africa and Morocco are the most significant exporters of produce to the European market. Imports from Morocco, in particular, increased considerably in recent years, with Moroccan products mostly arriving to the EU through Spain and France.
Butter, corn, tomatoes and eggs are also on the list of potential shortages.
Tomatoes were brought to Europe by the Spanish when they colonized the Americas. It’s an Aztec plant, its original name, “tomatl” and by the mid-1500s, it had made its way to Italy.
In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors returning from expeditions in Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica were thought to have first introduced the seeds to southern Europe.
And it’s not just vegetables, in the UK Champagne will be in short supply in 2023, and not just because of drought. Demand has rebounded from the pandemic faster than producers can create the bubbly beverage.
Speaking to The Leader, Hilary added: “It’s also cheaper to drink at home, than go to the pub – unless you go to Wetherspoons.”
