Different kinds of vegetables displayed in boxes. File photo.
Supermarkets in the United Kingdom are imposing limits on purchases of salad vegetables due to supply shortages. Tesco, the largest supermarket in the UK, announced in a statement on Wednesday, February 22, that it was joining other grocery chains like Asda, Morrisons, and Aldi in implementing this rationing measure.
Tesco has decided to limit the sales of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to three per person as a precautionary measure, “in order to ensure that more people get the goods they need.”
The budget supermarket chain Aldi imposed a “temporary” limit of three units per buyer for these vegetables. Asda capped purchase limits to three per person on eight products, including broccoli and raspberries, while Morrisons limited purchases to two per person on four products, including broccoli, RT reported.
According to analysts, the current shortages are due to two reasons. Firstly, suppliers in Morocco and Spain, the UK’s biggest sources of fresh vegetables in winter, have been suffering from cold temperatures, rain and flooding over the past month, which disrupted harvests and halted deliveries. Secondly, UK farmers themselves are having problems in powering their greenhouses due to rising energy prices.
The British Retail Consortium expects supply restrictions to last “a few weeks” until the British growing season gets underway and stores find alternative suppliers. Meanwhile, industry experts warn that there may be price rises as a result of the shortages in the coming weeks.
The UK is already facing the fastest price rise of food items in more than 40 years, with a year-on-year increase of 16.8% in December.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
