To be pissed off that Ocado have just delivered organic spring onions from EGYPT in the (alleged) summer?

[CountessDracula]

Why on earth do they have to import them from there. Surely we can grow our own in UK?

OK response from Waitrose

"Thank you for your earlier e-mail.

We have been in contact with our buyers regarding your query and they have advised us that UK grown organic stringless beans 250g will start next week in limited availability. They are a little late this year due to the colder wetter conditions we have been experiencing over the last 5 to 6 weeks. The colder temperatures, lower light levels and flooding has slowed crop growth and in some instances destroyed farmers crops, reducing availability this season.

Spring onions are very difficult to grow in the UK commercially. This is because they are particularly susceptible to mildew and problems with weeds. This makes them prohibitively expensive and puts off growers from investing in a crop which they may not be able to bring to market. Weeds and mildew are not a problem in Egypt and Mexico, however I agree with the customer that it does not feel right to be getting them from there in the summer.

I had however persuaded a couple of our growers to do a trial this year and all was going well until the weather hit and they have lost ALL their organic onions. I have asked them to give it a go again next year so fingers crossed we will find a way to get some UK salad onions into our shops next year.

We hope that this information will be of assistance."

Well it is fairly comprehensive I suppose!

All the strawberries in our local Waitrose have been from England only since the end of April/beginning of May. We have a choice of bog standard - from anywhere in England/local to our region/organic/speciality. Perhaps Ocado is hedging its bets as the weather has been so poor this year? BTW a shortage of broccoli is likely so more will be imported - British fields having been flooded.