UK salad shortages could last a month, warns environment secretary

theguardian.com:

Shortages of salad and other vegetables in UK supermarkets could last up to a month, the environment secretary has said, as the government was accused of bringing the problem on itself by failing to support local growers and through Brexit policies.

Thérèse Coffey, told parliament the shortages could take some time to resolve, after Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons introduced limits on purchases of salad items including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers owing to shortages partly caused by a cold spell in southern Spain and north Africa.

Responding to an urgent question about the empty shelves in supermarkets, Coffey said: “I’m led to believe by my officials, after discussion with industry and retailers, we anticipate this situation will last about another two to four weeks.

“It’s important that we try to make sure we get different sourcing options, and that’s why the (environment) department has already been in discussion with retailers, and why there will be further discussions led by ministers as well.”

She continued to blame the weather for the shortages despite MPs pointing out that European supermarkets appeared to have full shelves, as farmers in England warned that their polytunnels and greenhouses were at risk of going out of business because of the energy costs.

Justin King, the former chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said the UK only had itself to blame for the problems. “We are uniquely exposed to imports at this time of year. There is a genuine shortage but we did rather bring this problem on ourselves.”

He said the government had not supported farmers despite their warnings about additional costs as energy and fertiliser bills had soared during the war in Ukraine. He added: “This is a sector that’s been significantly