To say that the majority of UK fruit and veg is awful in comparison to other countries?

Its about consistent supply, UK produce can be fickle, a slight change in the weather and there is either loads of crop, not enough or none at all.

In the past, our family, along with many others used to grow fruit, flowers and salad crops.. all gone now, expense of energy to heat glass houses, weather, labour costs.

It became impossible to compete with overseas growers.

M&S can't guarantee a UK farmer will actually have any runner beans in late summer or their quality.

A pp said UK has great growing conditions - no we don't, we have inconsistent growing conditions & thats getting worse, last spring wet and cold for fruit, this year nr perfect, so prices will plummet :(

Sadly many British consumers aren’t willing or able to support local produce. The UK spends one of the lowest percentages of net income on food of any country in Europe.

That post was a perfect example of how people just expect to have everything available all year round in the UK.

British cherries? You get about 12 in a plastic container for £2.50

Abroad I buy a huge bag full for less money and gorge on them till I'm fed up with them!

I once wrote to M&S to complain that they had runner beans from Zimbabwe and why the hell were those there when UK is awash with runner beans in late Summer
I got a mealy mouthed response back. I asked....Why don't we support our farmers?!

I have a twice weekly market and get all my fruit and veg from there. The contrast with supermarket fruit and veg is very noticeable.

Of course you can get get great produce in the UK... IF you've the money and its in-season AND we haven't had torrential rain or frosts.

We are talking about Supermarket stuff and compared to what i see in France, UK sold fruit/veg is dire, if its even stocked...

@Allaboardtheraveytrain I agree with you and am amazed by the comments on this thread. And British cherries, plums and pears are also superb.

I also think that British dairy products are fantastic as is the meat.

I disagree on the British fruit and veg being inferior. I genuinely think we have the best tasting: apples, strawberries, rhubarb, potatoes, carrots, raspberries, blackberries and blackcurrants

British veg is great - we have perfect growing conditions here.

The problem is that what you are buying from the supermarket mis not fresh, and most probably imported!

Find someone doing veg boxes of home grown produce and you will get the flavour you are seeking.

You are going to the wrong place!
I spend a lot of time in Spain and the fruit and vegetables are just head and shoulders above anything I can buy in the UK.
If I get the chance I go to the local markets and buy from there, if not it's a little shop around the corner from me and honestly the peppers, potatoes, onions and oranges are just wonderful. And when it is strawberry season a huge wooden crate costs less than €3 and they taste like strawberries used to. As for asparagus I pay €1.20 for a massive bunch of thin stemmed asparagus, not the 5 woody stalks you get here for £3.50!
Lemons are straight from A neighbours tree and taste like lemons used to.

UK supermarket fruit and veg are poor

We're in the hunger gap right now, so most fruit and veg will have been stored before we get it.

ALthough strawberries are super early this year.

I don’t agree fruit and veg is expensive in the UK, but it is much lower quality than in the US, where I currently live. I especially notice it with avocados and berries which are simply incomparable here.

Agreed. So much bland, awful produce. It seems like you have to pay through the nose for anything decent.

Turkey produces the most divine tomatoes and figs. They are to die for.

Ditto in the Canary Islands.

the apples are HUGE (in Lidl) compared to the tiny pathetic things we get here, which when you take the core out are virtually nothing, and the peppers! Again absolutely huge.

Chatting about this yesterday, fruit n veg in France is cheaper or similarly priced and far more plentiful.

We went to Tesco & Morrisons, both had a lot of empty shelves across the store, not just veg, we couldn't even get any own brand tinned fish, pasta sold out and only organic chicken.

I believe we have very long delays getting stuff into the UK since Brexit, which explains some stuff but not the shite veg we grow here... but maybe its all down to our "world beating" farmers? lol!

You are spot-on, OP. The fruit in particular is utterly tasteless.

Only buy veg and fruit in season in the UK, reduces your choices a lot though. Use markets instead of supermarkets for veg, you can see what you are getting. And best of all grow your own.

Brexit may have a bit to do with it but I remember UK fruit and veg being flavour-less as long as I remember. I also don’t agree with the posters upthread saying you pay more in other European countries. Where I’m from it’s very very cheap (although grown in that country and not imported). Even things like apples that can be native in both the UK and where I’m from, also picked and cold stored over winter tastes completely different. Must be climate / soil / type dependent.

I agree that most fruit and veg in the supermarkets is low quality and tasteless. I switched to Riverford during the pandemic and I am so impressed with their boxes. Much better quality and taste.

M&S fruit and veg is lovely I think and tends to keeps a long time in the fridge.

Sainsbury's is basically the same price but the quality has noticeably declined in the last few years and it goes off quickly.