Supermarket rationing – latest: Brexit worsens UK food shortages, farming group claims

The “disastrous” Tory government and Brexit are to blame for Britain’s food shortages, activists say.

It comes as UK supermarkets have started rationing selected fruit and vegetables as supply issues leave shelves empty across the country.

In a social media video shared this morning, Save British Farming chair Liz Webster said: “I keep hearing that Spain is being blamed for the food shortages in Britain, and this is just absolute nonsense.

“The reason that we have food shortages in Britain and that we don’t have food shortages in Spain – or anywhere else in the European Union – is because of Brexit, and also because of this disastrous Conservative government that has no interest in food production, farming or even food supply

“That’s why we are in this mess.

“The Conservatives with their Brexit messed up our trade. This also impacted our labour supply because it ended freedom of movement. It also removed the cap and food subsidies.

“Then add on top of that the Ukraine war, Covid and inflation. All of this predicted and predictable. We have been telling them they need to act on it.

“But they didn’t do that and now it’s too late to do anything .”

She went on: “The only option now to cure the food shortage problem now is to make sure we get back in the single market and customs union as quickly as possible.

“That is the only quick fix open now.”

The price of basic groceries such as butter, milk and cheese went up 30% year-on-year at some supermarkets in December, figures show.

While overall food and drink inflation reached 15% in December across the eight major supermarkets, butters and spreads rose by an “astonishing” 29.4%, according to tracking by consumer group Which?

Milk was 26.3% more expensive than a year before, while cheese (22.3%), bakery items (19.5%), water (18.6%) and savoury pies, pastries and quiches (18.5%) also saw higher-than-average price increases.

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Former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King acknowledged supply has been affected by poor weather abroad, but has also been “hurt horribly by Brexit”.

Mr King told LBC that UK greenhouses, previously known to grow tomatoes, have suffered in recent years.

“These are products that we do produce, or in the past have produced year round in the UK,” Mr King said.

He continued: “North Kent, in Thanet, [had] the largest greenhouses in Europe, which used to be full of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes.

“But those greenhouses have suffered, really, from two big things. I hate to say it, but it’s a sector that’s been hurt horribly by Brexit.”

Mr King also asserted that the supermarket industry had suffered from the government’s decision to exclude it from its energy support scheme.

Tesco has issued a voucher-expiry warning to its Clubcard customers as food prices remain at painfully high levels – with consumer expert Martin Lewis chiming in to offer a hack of his own.

More than 20 million people in the UK currently hold a Tesco Clubcard, which allows shoppers to receive special discounts on selected items as well as rack up points they can redeem later as vouchers for use in-store.

Customers can use their Clubcard vouchers to bring down the cost of their weekly shop or fuel, treat themselves to money-off at more than 100 Reward Partners including Pizza Express and Spa Seekers or pick up a new deal with Tesco Mobile.

Thomas Kingsley reports:

Shoppers face an extra £788 on their annual grocery bill because of grocery price inflation, retail analysts Kantar said.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Households will now face an extra £788 on their annual shopping bills if they don’t change their behaviour to cut costs.”

So, how can we change our behaviour to save money while food shopping?

Financial journalist Paul Lewis, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box and author of the new tie-in book, offers the following tips…

• Be aware of psychological ploys

• Make a list

Read more here.

James Bailey, the executive director of supermarket Waitrose, said extreme weather rather than Brexit was to blame for the shortage of produce.

“It’s been snowing and hailing in Spain, it was hailing in North Africa last week – that is wiping out a large proportion of those crops,” he told LBC radio.

“Give it about a fortnight and the other growing seasons in other parts of the world will have caught up and we should be able to get that supply back in.”

Britain is facing a shortage of vegetables, particularly tomatoes, after supermarket supplies were hit by disrupted harvests in southern Europe and north Africa.

Grocers said the situation was exacerbated by less winter production in greenhouses in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs.

Though largely self-sufficient in the summer, Britain typically imports 95 per cent of its tomatoes and 90 per cent of its lettuces from December to March, according to BRC data.

Asda, Britain’s third largest grocer, said it had introduced a temporary three-pack limit for purchases of tomatoes, while rival Morrisons said it would impose a cap of two items per customer.

Supermarkets across the UK have begun rationing fresh food items in a move that is expected to last “weeks”.

A poor harvest in Europe means Asda is now limiting customers to a maximum of three items such as peppers, lettuce and broccoli.

Morrisons will also start a ban of more than two items from today, with limited produce including tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.

Rich Booth and Eleanor Noyce report.

Shoppers have hit out after reports of empty shelves in supermarkets across the country at the weekend.

Morrisons has admitted a tomato shortage and a general lack of fresh vegetables is reported elsewhere.

Andrea Cowan, the SNP councillor for Rutherglen Central & North, posted a photo on Twitter showing a lack of veg at a site in her local area.

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