Oh yes, we have no tomatoes !

The EU will supply other EU members, quite naturally

So why have Irish supermarkets got empty shelves??

Callistemon21

silverlining48

Thanet Earth in Kent is one of the largest growers of salads and vegetables in Europe. Believe it has now closed due to expense of energy required.
This problem could have been avoided as government knew this was coming months ago but refused any help with energy required to run such a huge venture.

Yes, that too.

No indication that they are closed, the website is still active, as is their recruitment dept.

I wasn't clear there, I didn't think it had closed, but that they'd had a difficult time with the weather, planting times and fuel costs.

MawtheMerrier

Fleurpepper

Well, let's ask all Grans who live all over Europe. Do you have shortages of fruit and veg locally?

Well you can presumably be the first to comment?

No shortages in our bit of France. Plenty of fruit and veg in all the shops. The organic milk supply is always a bit dodgy at this time of year which is a bit bizarre in Normandy.

I think it was the Lea Valley Growers who were having difficulties with weather and fuel costs. Their levels of production had been halved last year.

There’s a news article on Sky saying that there should have been energy subsidies for UK growers, who could have met the shortfall, apparently many closed or drastically reduced production this winter due to energy costs.

👀

This was described as a crisis in a link. Tomato shortage is not a crisis, the earthquake in Turkey is a crisis. No one in Britain will starve because there aren’t enough tomatoes, or indeed enough of any other fruit or vegetables. We simply need to buy and use whatever else is available and stop worrying about not enough tomatoes!

No shortages here in Germany either.

I don’t need to eat tomatoes in winter . I prefer saison veg and fruit

This was described as a crisis in a link. Tomato shortage is not a crisis, the earthquake in Turkey is a crisis
👏👏👏
It's a hiccup.

It is something that needs to be addressed by the government in conjunction with British Growers and supermarkets to ensure that there is more home-grown produce.

People have grown to demand out-of-season produce as the norm.
Is this unreasonable?

Yes, I agree. Who wants strawberries in winter .

Callistemon21

^The EU will supply other EU members, quite naturally^

So why have Irish supermarkets got empty shelves??

Probably because of cost of transport via ferry from Northern France? Honestly, I don't know.

There are NO shortages in mainland Europe, at all.

Karmalady - My latest organic box is a seasonal box and you can make a good variety of winter salads from that. Try massaging shredded green veg with a bit of lemon juice as a base.

Massaging kale, preferably cavolo nero, with a salad dressing an hour before eating it makes it absolutely delicious in a salad! I was amazed when I saw this suggestion, as I have always thought that you should dress a salad at the very last minute; this was a revelation. I do it all the time now.

Fleurpepper

Callistemon21

The EU will supply other EU members, quite naturally

So why have Irish supermarkets got empty shelves??

Probably because of cost of transport via ferry from Northern France? Honestly, I don't know.

There are NO shortages in mainland Europe, at all.

Probably because of cost of transport via ferry from Northern France? Honestly, I don't know.

Um, just like to the UK?

I think it is more that the extra paperwork from Brexit causes delays which further disrupts the supply chain. Our electricity prices went up 15% at the beginning of February but had been capped all winter with EDF taking the hit. Still lots cheaper than the UK.

Well said, maddyone. It may be a minor inconvenience for some people, but it's hardly a crisis compared to what some of our friends in Turkey (and those in Syria, of course) are currently going through. There were very few tomatoes in our local Aldi this morning, but no-one's going to starve for a lack of tomatoes. There are plenty of alternatives.

Mamie

I think it is more that the extra paperwork from Brexit causes delays which further disrupts the supply chain. Our electricity prices went up 15% at the beginning of February but had been capped all winter with EDF taking the hit. Still lots cheaper than the UK.

So why has Ireland got empty shelves?

Callistemon21

Mamie

I think it is more that the extra paperwork from Brexit causes delays which further disrupts the supply chain. Our electricity prices went up 15% at the beginning of February but had been capped all winter with EDF taking the hit. Still lots cheaper than the UK.

So why has Ireland got empty shelves?

Because it is a lot further and more expensive from mainland Europe than the 20 miles to Dover?
I know Brittany Ferries have put on a new service to Ireland but that would still be long and expensive.
How is most food normally transported from Spain or Morocco to Ireland do you know?

If you venture onto Twitter then Ciaran the euro courier is a good follow. He seems to know what he is talking about.

I think it is the perfect storm of many factors, some of which could have been predicted and avoided, and some which couldn't.

The weather in growing areas of Europe couldn't be predicted, nor to a certain extent, could the effect of energy rises on growing costs, but it doesn't take much effort to work out that if you were a wholesaler in say, Morocco, would you supply dealers in Spain, France, Italy by loading a few lorries and waving the drivers on their way, or employ a department solely to battle their way through the paperwork to export to post EU GB, all the time wondering if the load would be rejected due to some unticked box, and returned to you, rotten and spoiled?

I am a vegetarian, eat a lot of veg, and although I certainly don't buy strawberries out of season, it is not unreasonable to want to have tomatoes and such, from just over the Channel, like we always have.

However, like so many things, the government failed to read the room, and despite warnings from the growers (per R4 this morning) did not give support during the energy crisis to the growers in Kent. Surely all those exhorting us to be patriotic and 'Eat British' should be helping growers and producers to enable us to do so?

I have just come back from a big Sainsbury’s, the only things not available were Asparagus (from Mexico/Peru this time of year) and Green Beans (usually from Kenya)

Whilst the salad aisle was not full, it did contain tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc.

Mamie

Callistemon21

Mamie

I think it is more that the extra paperwork from Brexit causes delays which further disrupts the supply chain. Our electricity prices went up 15% at the beginning of February but had been capped all winter with EDF taking the hit. Still lots cheaper than the UK.

So why has Ireland got empty shelves?

Because it is a lot further and more expensive from mainland Europe than the 20 miles to Dover?
I know Brittany Ferries have put on a new service to Ireland but that would still be long and expensive.
How is most food normally transported from Spain or Morocco to Ireland do you know?

Interestingly, Britanny Ferries (which we used to use a lot) was started because of cauliflowers.

Founded in 1972 by proud Breton Alexis Gourvennec and a group of fellow Breton farmers wanting to export their cauliflowers and artichokes to the UK, Brittany Ferries is now the leading maritime carrier on the western and central Channel
It is still largely owned by French farmers apparently.

Sorry, I don't know, just thought the Britanny Ferry anecdote was interesting.

No shortage in Montreux, CH