Fruit and veg shortages

[Buttalapasta]

I'm not in the UK but I keep on seeing pictures on Twitter of empty supermarket shelves for fruit and veg. Is it really a problem or are they isolated issues?

No tomatoes in aldi, tried Tesco none there and also no cucumbers (in fact just rows and rows of empty boxes) sainsburys a few cherry tomatoes no normal ones and no cucumbers. But obviously I don’t need either item I just want them so not a disaster.

I've been able to get tomatoes from M&S. I was in Tesco yesterday and everything seemed well stocked. I think "shortages" suggests people struggling to get basics day in, day out. It's clearly not the case all over the UK. Going round any supermarket indicates a nation with plentiful food supplies. However, maybe that's just in my area?

We can live without fresh tomatoes and other veg for a while. They're not even in season so the carbon footprint is bad. We've become spoilt and the world has bigger problems.

Nope South West. Ocado stock Isle of Wight tomatoes - you are welcome 😊

I've never seen any problems and I'm a carer who shops for 3 clients. No problems ticking off their full lists across several supermarkets, all with bursting shelves, or my own either. Tomato supply seems fine so far but if there's a problem growing them in Spain it's going to affect everywhere they're sent to across the whole of Europe so the British exceptionalism is boring. Brexit or not, we're all in this together and temporary supply shortages happen to us all. I don't think I've seen any raspberries but I wouldn't expect to in February.

Tbh, I'd take a lot of the pictures with a pinch of salt. Some I've checked with Google image search are from the start of lockdown or not even from the UK.

Central Scotland here no issues with anything. Stop with the scaremongering - there's already people stocking tinned tomatos now ffs

It's not scaremongering if lots of people elsewhere are experiencing shortages

"This is rubbish! Supermarkets are crammed with every conceivable item. I wonder if you are in Europe and this is deliberate misinformation to warn people of the perils of brexit or something?!

We have always had fully stocked shelves so strange to suggest otherwise"

@Blessedwithsunshine are you my friend? 🤣

It isn't a result of Brexit but some people are so determined not to see the shortages because they think it is.

Yup.

Remember Covid and bog paper ?

No-one I know who had Covid had the $h!£$ and that includes me.

The main thing I've noticed is red peppers. I've not noticed a problem with cucumber or tomatoes though.

Not noticed anything different but tbh it's not really something I would notice. If one thing is out of stock there's a vast range of alternatives.

Call me cynical and I hate to say it - but the Russians have good reason to create rumours and problems in all of Europe.

Start a rumour - build it up - shove it on MN and Twitter, sit back and watch the lemmings rush to the supermarket. It has a ripple affect and causes a feeling of insecurity.

I lived overseas for years and other countries have nothing like the scale of choice we have here. We are very spoilt.

I can’t see any shortages in anything at any point even if I squeeze my eyes half closed. I suppose I could complain that the fresh sushi seems to rub out at 4.30pm some times on a Friday.
We even had copious amounts of bog roll in the height of covid as it was restricted.

Run out

It's the veg we normally insist on importing out of season. I have noticed it's more expensive and if I pop into the nearest town it's available, call at the shops on my way home (poorer area) they have very little choice. We live semi rurally and the local farm shop has a great stock of seasonal veg

I can’t see any shortages in anything at any point even if I squeeze my eyes half closed

You're not going to if you do your shopping online

Had a Sainsbury's delivery on Friday complete with tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, various salad and fruit. Also peppers which were subbed from red to yellow but I can live with that. South East.

Definitely shortages in our town, in all the supermarkets. We were comparing experiences at work on Friday to get a picture of the different shops, we don’t all shop at the same one. Main issue seems to be fruit and veg that are imported. Particularly salad items.

Farm shops have more choice but obviously not everyone can drive out to those - middle class mumsnetters often assume everyone can shop at farm shops.

The only thing we're struggling to get is red peppers - loads of green and yellow ones though.

@Blessedwithsunshine you shop online though 🤣🙈 you're not seeing empty tomato boxes because Ocado pick yours in their warehouse.

The Russians aren't spreading rumours about tomatoes. Jesus wept, there's a shortage due to unusual weather conditions in Spain and Morocco. That's all.

You (and my friend) with your wild Russia and brexit theories and insistence that there are NO shortages of anything whatsoever, (when people can see empty shelves), are the ones that create panic.

We can't get tomatoes anywhere in my town

I’m reminded of the early 70s and the paucity of choice in shops in this country, except that people’s expectations were lower so they didn’t notice. I was amazed when I travelled to Europe then and saw the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables and much other unfamiliar produce in the shops (especially as we were conditioned to think the UK was better in every way than benighted Europe). For example, in England the only fruit drinks commonly available were sickly squashes. In Europe you could buy bottled pure fruit juice everywhere. Also, I remember visiting Prague in the winter in the late 90s and being served the sort of salad you’d have expected in the UK in about 1975, half a tomato, a couple of slices of wilted pepper and some grated carrot. It made me realise how much things had changed at home.
It’s depressing to think we’re heading backwards, though we’ve got a way to go and I hope the trend will be reversed.

More of an inconvenience than a worry but there have been shortages of particular produce in my location. Having said that, plenty of fresh produce is always available, it's just that sometimes you have to make a different recipe to the one you wanted to make. I know the issue varies by location because during the pandemic shortages, we were more badly affected than other places.

This was the tomato section a few days ago:

"Yup.

Remember Covid and bog paper ?

No-one I know who had Covid had the $h!£$ and that includes me."

So now you agree with blessed and my friend, both of whom did the "blame brexit" thing. You were rolling your eyes a minute back.

As for having the shits, my family did when we had covid but that's besides the point because it wasn't the reason people panic bought toilet roll.

Must be a fake photo photoshopped by the Russians