And according to UK correspondent Lia van Bekhoven, there are several reasons for this. For example, far fewer vegetables are grown in greenhouses, partly due to the high price of energy. “There are simply fewer greenhouses used, so it’s not worth growing tomatoes, for example,” she says. ‘British importers then moved on to warmer countries like Spain and Morocco, but last winter was also much colder. They couldn’t fill the hole.’
The shortage has even increased to such an extent that three British supermarket chains have introduced a rule that allows you to buy a maximum of three peppers and two bags of lettuce per person. Van Bekhoven expects the situation to continue for several weeks, as the search for alternatives and rising temperatures in the UK. If they grow again, British growers can go about their business without greenhouses.
Brexit
The specter of Brexit also comes into play with vegetable shortages, as Van Bekhoven knows. “I don’t want to blame everything on it, but I remember how a new trade deal was announced with Morocco a few years ago,” he says. “This was only possible because the British were no longer in the EU.”
According to the British, the United Kingdom would expect more and better tomatoes from Morocco because of this quantity, because the reputation of Dutch tomatoes – first imported by the British – would be questionable. “So a new freight supply line was in the works,” he continues. “Tons of tomatoes were being shipped from Tangier to Pool near Dorset every week, but two years later that project turns out to be a fantasy.”
Interesting detail: it is much easier for Moroccan growers to export to the European Union than to the United Kingdom. “So once again the British are losing ground to Brexit,” concludes Van Bekhoven.