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?

@tulips27 that's what our supermarket looked like too. I'm not worried, there's zero need to panic. It's a weather related shortage, nothing more.

I'm amazed by the "deniers" of it though. Bizarre.

I see empty shelves every week here (town in the South East). It’s not always the same thing, but salad vegetables do seem particularly affected. Tried 5 different shops this weekend before I found any red peppers, and we took the last but one pack. One of the other 4 shops did have a few sad looking loose green peppers, but the others had no peppers at all.

No, it's a real, unedited photo 😕

Usually shop at Tesco click and collect. Odd things missing, eggs have been difficult (bird flu?) farm shop has plenty though. No problem with cucumbers or peppers, greens were missing one week and Kale another, tomatoes were substituted with cheaper ones last week. No real problems for me, still a good selection of veg available from Tesco. And farm shop has everything at a price.

@tulips27 I'm joking - there's another person making those suggestions

"No, it's a real, unedited photo 😕"

No it's got to be fake because the Russians and brexit and lemmings and bog roll. I squeeze my eyes really tight and squint at the Ocado screen. It's rubbish I say, rubbish!

That's funny because I am also in Central Scotland and there were no tomatoes in either Morrisons or Tesco at the weekend. So there definitely are issues. It's not scaremongering.

Yes, there are definitely issues in my local Sainsbury’s and Waitrose (Southern England). No tomatoes and hardly any lettuce.

@PacificallyRequested tomatoes aren't in seasons until May!

@MissyB1 farm shops have what is in seasons and aren't middle class at all.

It would be better for us as a country to be more self sustainable eating what we grow which means eating what's in season not expecting tomatoes and strawberries in winter!

It’s been sporadic since covid in Lincolnshire. Recently it’s rare to see a pepper, cucumber or tomato. Broccoli & cauliflower is hit and miss too. Eggs due to bird flu. I find some weeks they have certain products then none for weeks after, no porridge oats in Lidl for a month and then they reappear. I live in an area where lots of veg & salad is grown shortages of farm labour, packers etc, weather and fertiliser prices have seen a lot of farmers go back to growing wheat.

London Sainsbury’s here. They don’t look like that pic below

Usually everything there, or maybe something like raspberries are out

We get all our fruit and veg from the local market and know the traders there well (London). They know their stuff and manage to get hold of a decent selection, but there is definitely less choice now, and they say that they’re struggling to get hold of both the quality and quantity of produce they used to, due to both cost and scarcity.

When I do occasionally venture into a supermarket there are always lots of gaps - you can normally cobble together a halfway decent selection of fruit and veg, but you don’t get to pick and choose, and some things like tomatoes etc are often clearly past their best. Markets/supermarkets here have never been as well stocked as those on the continent, but the difference is much starker now.

@Grumpybutfunny - I agree with you about trying to eat what’s in season in but that’s not really the OP’s point. Supermarkets normally stock imported fruit and veg and there are definitely shortages in many areas which is unusual.

I couldn't get tomatoes in Tesco on Saturday. Am in NI. Thankfully my very fussy DS2 is not having a tomato phase at the moment or I'd have a bit of driving to do. Otherwise I can live without tomatoes for a while. Hope they don't run out of kiwi fruit and cheese strings though😅

It's a bit hit and miss, but we have fresh bananas, apples, a kiwi, lettuce, onions, peppers, carrot, tomatoes and sugarsnap peas in. Also, frozen peas, sweetcorn and a mixed bag of cauliflower and broccoli in freezer. Would rather just have the broccoli, but haven't been able to buy frozen for months. Either way, we have enough fruit and veg to go with whatever meal we choose.

If you voted for Brexit= nothing to see here plenty of cabbage and carrots we just need to eat seasonally you spoilt idiots.
If you voted remain=lots of shortages, no fresh salad produce to be had at all.
The truth (in my region in the shops I visited)= lots of shortages in veg aisles. No peppers or lettuce or tomatoes at all. However I got a cucumber.

I should have taken photos yesterday. It made me feel really uneasy, such was the extent of the shortages. I guess that shows what a privileged life I've been leading, able to access any food at any given time.

We had that empty shelves thing in the pandemic, as many did

It was quite surreal

I agree brexit was shit and has lasting effects, but it's a global issue with tomatoes currently. We can't afford to grow them in greenhouses here currently because of the energy prices, and adverse weather abroad has ruined crops. Although we used to buy most from Spain and now do so from Morocco in no small part due to brexit; both countries have had issues.

There is something to be said about eating seasonally, its better for the planet, better for producers. Whilst I agree we shouldn't be okay with reducing quality of life ie less choice or whatever, perhaps it is a good time to evaluate whether flying or shipping fruit and veg from miles away because we want it is decent for the planet, or whether there's a balance to be struck. Seasonal veg and imported exotic fruits maybe? I don't know, I just think progress doesn't always mean getting more and more, it can be adapting.

I noticed big gaps in Aldi the other day.

No problem in our aldi in Dorset

DH went shopping to our usual supermarket Thursday night. He got cucumbers, but no tomatoes.

I tried 6 different supermarkets in a large geographic range as I was collecting my children from their half term visit to Granny’s and we needed to call in different shops on the way back.

No tomatoes anywhere, apart from our normal shop I called in on the way home for a lemon Swiss roll

The manager in Morrisons said it was due to bad weather in Spain.

I tried 2 ALDIs, 1 Asda, 1 Sainsbury’s, 1 Co-op and 2 Morrisons. It was our local Aldi that came through. TBH I thing that’s due to the demographic, it’s a bit low income locally, and I don’t think people on a right budget prioritise Specially Selected Picolo tomatoes.

Shortage of bananas in my local Tesco for weeks

I’m in Perthshire and get my food delivered from a Sainsbury in Angus. I haven’t had any problems with fruit and veg, apart from one week when they had no brambles so sent me bilberries instead.
I had strawberries, bilberries, cucumber, aubergine, apples, yam, green beans, leeks, lettuce, spinach, broccoli and beetroot last week, all in good condition.

I get occasional shortages at my Tesco, the empty shelves are across other parts of the shop more than fruit and veg.

But what is glaringly obvious is the quality has gone hugely downhill. Finest range potatoes with black bits running through them. Tomatoes that are the right shape but that’s about it- they’re not quite ripe and taste of absolutely nothing. Cucumbers that are soft and squishy, have to normally check a few before I find a good one. Green bananas that never seem to quite ripen at home. Leeks with mud running through the whole length. Yellow broccoli.

Compared to 3-4 years back, there are absolutely loads of lines/brands you can’t get anymore, way way less choice.

All this has happened gradually. That’s the way slowly boiling a frog goes. You’re not meant to notice it.