Greengrocers encourage people to buy local during widespread supermarket vegetable shortages

Many customers will have seen empty shelves in Portsmouth supermarkets this week as fruit and vegetable imports have been disrupted. Bad weather in Europe and Africa has been widely blamed for the nationwide produce shortages and chains including Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons imposed buying limits on scarce items.

Sue Ings, who runs Ron White Greengrocer on Marmion Road, Southsea, said that customers have turned to independent shops for their salad vegetables over the past week.

Sue said: ‘We’re alright at the moment but my brother’s been off sick so he won’t be going to the market until Monday, so I don't know what it's going to be like.

‘Whenever they say anything in the papers, people tend to go a little bit mad - perhaps they weren’t even going to buy tomatoes and peppers but suddenly they know it’s short so they want some.

‘I’ve seen loads of strange faces that have obviously come from Waitrose - because they haven’t got any - come in to me. I’ve got tomatoes, I’ve got cucumbers, I've got peppers, I’ve got broccoli - I’m quite well-stocked.’

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Sue, 70, has been working at the shop since 1994 and took over the business from her father Ron White who set up the business in 1962. She now runs the business with her brother Steve White.

Sue noted that people’s eating habits have changed during her time in the job and said she sells far fewer potatoes than her father did.

Sue added: ‘There’s hardly any of us left. There’s probably two or three in Southsea at most. It’s a lot harder now - we used to have about three staff but now it’s just me and my brother. Things have changed and people eat differently than they used to. My dad used to have thirty bags of spuds delivered in one go. It’s completely changed now and people have different things - pastas, stir fries - and they don’t seem to eat as many potatoes as they used to.’

Rick Hu is the owner of Ushers Greengrocers in Cosham having taken over the business from Norman Usher who retired in 2021 after 50 years in the industry.

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Rick said he has also managed to retain his stock levels but has had to increase prices in line with inflated market rates.

Rick said: ‘The price is through the roof - it’s doubled. Most items are just a little bit higher than normal but the salad items are going up by double, some even more than double. If we don’t put our prices up we will lose money. Generally we sell a pepper for 79 pence, for example, but at the moment I have to sell it at £1.99. We need to make sure we can pay the bills so have to put up the price. We have no choice.’

Rick, who previously traded as a fishmonger, said he has also seen more trade over the past week.

Rick said: ‘I go to the market every other day but for this whole week I’ve been there every day because of the shortages. I go there to get tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers because people can get them from nowhere else. We cannot compete with the supermarkets’ prices, all we rely on is our high quality and loyal customers.’

While some supermarkets have imposed limits on purchasing the scare produce, staff at Westlands Farm Shop in Shedfield in the Meon Valley have reassured customers they can buy as much as they like.

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General manager Harry King said: ‘Our supplies have not been impacted by the shortage currently being experienced by some of the supermarkets. We have seen a slight increase in purchasing of some fruit and veg items - mainly tomatoes - but we can handle that because we are continuing to get deliveries from our suppliers.

‘We are very proud of the strong connections we have with suppliers in the area. Those connections mean we can quickly and easily restock in times like these. Local supply chains reduce shipping, storage, emissions and energy usage.’

Shop director Graham Collett added: ‘These shortages have been created by UK supermarkets unfairly blocking their suppliers from passing on inflationary costs and forcing many of them out of business.’

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary Thérèse Coffey addressed the House of Commons and stated that she expects the situation to last for up to four more weeks.

The Suffolk Coastal MP said: ‘The United Kingdom has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response, and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.

‘In the last few days, we have seen Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco apply item limits to a small number of fruits and vegetables in response to issues with supply from Spain and north Africa caused predominantly by seasonal weather hampering production and harvest during December and January.

‘The nature of horticulture and the effect on production of short-term events such as weather can create some volatility, and any growing forecast is subject to short-term alterations. Industry has the capability, levers and expertise to respond to disruption and, where necessary, my Department will further support and enable that.

‘I wish to reiterate that UK food security remains resilient, and we continue to expect industry to be able to mitigate supply problems through alternative sourcing options.’