Tesco, Britain’s largest grocery supermarket, has recently put limits on the sale of certain fruits and vegetables including peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, following similar initiatives by other top supermarket chains like Aldi, Asda and Morrisons. This move has been taken mainly due to the shortage of fresh food produce caused by extreme weather conditions which have hit harvests in Spain and North Africa.
Tesco is limiting the sales of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to three per customer. However, some brands like Lidl, M&S and Waitrose have not declared any such limitations yet.
A large proportion of fruits and vegetables consumed by the UK every year come from the North African and Spain regions. According to the British Retail Consortium, the shortage is expected to last for a few weeks till this season passes and shops are able to find alternative produce sources. These limits are applied to loose vegetables and fruits as well as the items sold in packets, like pepper.
Other supermarkets include Aldi, which has put in the same limit as Tesco, i.e., 3 items per customer, while Asda has restricted the sale of these products as well as lettuce, broccoli, cauliflowers to three per customer. Meanwhile, Morrisons has put a limit of three items per customer for cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers.
Managing Director of Nationwide Produce, Tim O’Malley, has stated that production of British carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers and parsnips have been affected by bad weather. There may be a also be a rise in the prices due to the shortage, he added.
Restaurant and food store owners are also finding it difficult to find commodities like eggs, aside from tomatoes, rocket, and spinach. Another product which has suffered from the extreme heatwaves in Spain is the olive oil, leading to a stock shortage for several supermarket chains.
Source Credit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64729317