Vegetable shortages are causing disruption in Teesside as shoppers continue to find empty shelves in supermarkets.
In recent weeks, supermarkets across the UK have been affected by shortages of a number of vegetables and fruit, mainly tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and even lettuce and cabbage in some chains.
This is due to supply chain disruptions caused by adverse weather conditions in countries like Morocco and Spain, which have been dealing with cold temperatures, heavy rain and flooding for the past three to four weeks. The ferries carrying these groceries have further hit supplies in the UK after bad weather led to cancellations.
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Environment Secretary Therese Coffey even suggested that people should eat turnips instead, adding that reduced supplies could last another “two to four weeks”.
Teesside Live took a tour of some Teesside shops on Thursday afternoon. This is what we found.
Aldi
Aldi’s nationwide have capsicums, cucumbers and tomatoes limited to three per customer. Cucumbers were out of stock at the Newport Road branch in Middlesbrough. While the store had very few cherry tomatoes, there were a few boxes of larger ripe tomatoes.
There were also approximately 15-20 packs of three peppers. Despite this, there were a number of warnings near these products stating that there was a limit of three items to “ensure there is enough to go around”.
Another sign at the store read: “Due to bad weather conditions in Europe, some lines of fruit and vegetables are temporarily unavailable. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
Morrison
Morrisons has introduced a limit of two items per customer on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers. At the Teesside Park Morrisons store, there was a shortage of cucumbers, only a few tubs of baby cucumbers on offer and no tomatoes for sale.
Although the lettuces are on the Morrisons ration list, there were plenty of them for sale. One shopper submitted a photo after noticing that at the store front, Morrisons was advertising a fajita kit sale and a three-pack sale of bell peppers, despite only having a rare green bell pepper on the shelves.
The broccoli range was also in short supply, with a banner reading: “Availability across our broccoli range has been significantly affected by adverse weather conditions across Spain. The current shortage is likely to improve in a couple of weeks.”
Tesco
Tesco has introduced a three person limit for peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. At Tesco in Ingleby Barwick, all the tomatoes and cabbage were out of stock. There were about 10 cucumbers left on the shelves and a few packs of three peppers, again limited to three per person “so everyone can get what they need.”
The boxes were delivered with a sign reading, “Sorry, due to inclement weather, these items are out of stock. We are working hard to restock our shelves.” Tesco in Coulby Newham also had no tomatoes on the shelves.
Has your nearby supermarket been affected by supply shortages? Let us know in the comments.
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