Expats taunt Brits with photos of full shelves full of fruit and vegetables

Expats living in the EU were sharing images of their supermarkets being flooded with fruit and vegetables when some UK grocery stores began rationing.

Britons living in Spain, France, Germany and other European states have been filming themselves in shops overflowing with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, claiming the empty shelves in their home countries are because they left the EU.

But experts and farmers have insisted that it has nothing to do with Brexit and that bad weather in Morocco and Spain, coupled with the high running price of gas-heated greenhouses in the UK, is to blame.

Many farmers are reducing production and delaying planting this year to cut costs and have accused supermarkets of refusing to pay British growers the price necessary to cover their costs.

Farmer and social media star Olly Harrison said: ‘It’s so easy. It’s the supermarkets, packers and suppliers who don’t want to pay the true cost of production. The cost of production has risen due to the price of gas and oil. You can’t afford to grow things out of season in the UK at the moment.

“Some people will blame Brexit for things not coming. But it’s just that the price isn’t fair at the moment.”

Jack Ward of the British Growers Association said the rationing seen at Asda and Morrisons could have been foreseen after supermarkets spent months squeezing British suppliers due to the cost of living crisis and runaway inflation.

He said: “There is this determination to sell vegetables at ever lower costs, without worrying about sustainability and this is coming home.”

“There is a determination to sell vegetables at ever lower costs, and this is coming home.”

Asda and Morrisons are already rationing sales of vegetables, with shoppers sharing images of empty shelves in the produce sections of supermarkets across the country, including Tesco.

And the shortage of products such as tomatoes and cauliflowers will worsen, warned the National Union of Farmers (NFU).

Cold weather and frost in Spain and Morocco, which supply much of Britain’s winter vegetables, have led to drastic supply shortages.

The shortage covers tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower and cabbage.

At the same time, frost damage to British household crops such as carrots, cabbage, parsnips and cauliflower mean many fields have been lost.

The crisis has deepened in recent weeks as soaring energy costs have forced British farmers to shut down greenhouses as they desperately try to make ends meet.

Shoppers in some Asda stores have been told they can buy up to three packs of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries at a time as supplies run low at several outlets. .

Morrisons said it will limit purchases to two packs per customer of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers from tomorrow.

NFU President Minette Batters told the organization’s conference yesterday that “enormous cost inflation” with the cost of fertilizer up 169 percent, energy up 79 percent and animal feed up 57 percent were affecting farmers.

She said the crisis will worsen: “Production of salad ingredients such as tomatoes and cucumbers is expected to fall to the lowest levels since records began in 1985.”

She told Sky News: “Everyone wants to avoid rationing, effectively, which is what we saw with eggs in December.”

He added that “the last thing anyone wants to do is create a level of panic buying” and hopes rationing can be avoided.

But she said: “I think there will be challenges in the availability of some foods,” including tomatoes, peppers and general salad ingredients, which are often grown in heated indoor buildings.

“Field vegetables” such as potatoes, cauliflower and purple broccoli could also be affected, he said.

In a speech to the NFU conference, Ms Batters said “time is running out” for the government to act.

The British Retail Consortium warned that tomatoes were running low at supermarkets, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, due to “difficult weather conditions” in southern Europe and north Africa.

Britain is dependent on imports during the winter, typically importing around 90 percent of crops such as cucumbers and tomatoes, though it is self-sufficient in the summer months.

Tim O’Malley of Nationwide Produce, a major importer and grower, said the delivery price for a box of peppers rose from £8-£9 to around £22, while a box of tomatoes rose from £7-£9. 8 to £14.

Courgettes have risen from £5-£7 to £12, iceberg lettuce from £6-£8 to £19 and Dutch onions from £250-£270 per tonne to £700.

One shopper, Hilary Paterson-Jones, said she had to visit four supermarkets in her hometown of Holyhead, Anglesey, to complete her weekly shopping.

She said: ‘There was hardly any fresh produce at Tesco. At Morrisons I asked a young member of staff what was going on and he told me there was nothing in the back shops.

“The same thing was happening at Aldi and Lidl, it seemed to be affecting all the supermarkets.”

An Asda spokesperson said: ‘Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some produce that is grown in southern Spain and North Africa.

“We have introduced a temporary limit of three of each product in a very small number of fruit and vegetable lines, so that customers can pick up the products they are looking for.”

Tesco said there are “no limits” on sales of its vegetables. Morrisons has been contacted for comment.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We are starting to transition into the UK growing season, so as well as finding alternatives to produce in Spain and North Africa, we will soon see more British produce on the shelves.”