Morrisons has started to ration peppers to two per customer as unseasonably cold weather in Spain has resulted in short supply.
While the supermarket has said it hopes to lift any purchasing limits within the next week or so, Waitrose has also run out of the vegetable in some stores.
The upmarket retailer said that yellow peppers have been particulalry affected.
An industry source told The Times: ”Spain is key for supplying British retailers during winter, and almost every retailer in the UK will source peppers from here.
”They need warmth and light to develop – green into yellow then into red.”
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
This comes following widespread fruit and veg shortages earlier this year, which saw supermarkets across the UK rationing produce including tomatoes, onions and cucumbers.
At the time, these shortages were attributed to difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa, as well as less having been planted by British farmers due to the rising costs of heating greenhouses.
However, some industry experts also claimed this to be an effect of Brexit.
”As with the tomato and cucumber shortages, retailers blamed extreme weather in Europe rather than Brexit,” the British Retail Consortium said.
“Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa disrupted harvest.”
Last week, Ginsters farmer Jeremy Oatey claimed locally grown produce has risen by 15% due to the industry shortages, while a recent study by Ocado found that over two thirds of Brits want to eat more seasonal produce this year.
