More fruit and veg shortages to come as weather in UK and Spain hits crops

theguardian.com:

Shoppers have been warned they face more fruit and vegetable shortages, as temperatures in southern Spain soar to unprecedented levels while the UK growing season gets off to a late start because of cold, overcast weather.

Temperatures were expected to reach a new April record of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday amid a long-lasting drought that has affected the production of vegetables in Spain. Córdoba reached a record 38.8C on Thursday.

Spain has been in drought since January last year and this is likely to be the hottest, driest April on record.

Meanwhile, British growers have also been facing weather challenges, particularly the cold start to the spring growing season and a lack of sunlight.

Fresh produce grown in Spain for UK consumption includes tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuces, broccoli and citrus fruit.

Sainsbury’s has warned of further shortages this week. Its chief executive, Simon Roberts, said some problems with fresh produce, such as peppers and eggs, remained.

Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, said: “We’re working hard with our suppliers to get our full range [of peppers] back on our shelves and expect stock levels to stabilise in the coming weeks as we move into the UK season.”

The British Retail Consortium has said difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe disrupted the harvest for some fruit and vegetables including peppers, and Morrisons limited customers to two packs of red peppers earlier this week, although it has since lifted restrictions.

Supermarket shelves had big gaps in February, when retailers including Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons rationed certain products such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The shortages also pushed prices of fresh fruit and vegetables