The UK’s leading supermarkets are set to address the country’s current fruit and vegetable shortages by meeting with farming minister, Mark Spencer.
According to reporting by Retail Week, Spencer said: “I know families expect the fresh produce they need to be on the shelves when they go for their weekly shop.
“That is why I am calling in supermarket chiefs to get shelves stocked again and to outline how we can avoid a repeat of this.”
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Last week, Asda, Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco announced purchase limits on fresh produce including tomatoes, peppers, onions and cucumbers due to shortages of the products.
British Retail Consortium director of food and sustainability, Andrew Opie, attributed the shortages to “difficult weather conditions in the South of Europe and Northern Africa,” however, some industry experts have claimed this to be an effect of Brexit, while British farms have also suffered as many growers have had to cut back due to the rocketing costs of heating greenhouses.
Leading retailer Tesco and upmarket retailer Waitrose also saw further shortages late last week of turnips, as environment minister, Thérèse Coffey urged Brits to opt for the product and “cherish the specialisms that we have in this country.”
Speaking in the house of commons, Coffey added that she hoped the shortages would be a “temporary issue”, however expected the situation to “last about another two to four weeks”.
Environment secretary, George Eustice told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We’re going to have three or four weeks of this and the supermarkets have got to work to get it right.”
