The crisis was sparked by soaring energy costs, bad harvests and red tape from Brexit.
Last year, farmers warned that pepper and cucumber shortages might happen in the spring because supermarkets were not paying enough to grow them.
The Lea Valley Growers Association’s secretary Lee Stiles previously told The Times he predicted shortages of British produce in 2023 ‘across the board’, as 40 of the group’s 80 members opted not to plant vegetables in 2022 because of anticipated financial losses.
He added: “Backing British growers by paying fair prices doesn’t seem to be a priority for supermarkets. The amount of British fresh produce on the shelves from our growers has reduced by at least half this year already but consumers haven’t noticed it, or don’t care.”
Cold weather and even snow in southern Europe and north Africa hit harvests of tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and cucumbers earlier this year. A quarter of all tomatoes in Britain come from Morocco.
