The heat registered until December and the sudden and intense cold of the last few weeks have shortened the British markets
The strong frosts of the last few days in Spain have not only affected our country, but have consequences beyond our borders. Proof of this is the situation that the United Kingdom has been experiencing for weeks due to the shortage of tomatoes, which have already become a luxury item on the rare occasions that they are available. The supermarket shelves dedicated to vegetables are practically empty and the fault, in large part, is the bad weather that has occurred in Spain, one of its main suppliers.
As reflected in the British press for a few days, the lack of tomatoes and their rationing (when they exist, only a maximum per customer is sold) is a constant reason for comments on social networks, flooded with signs of concern and even indignation.
The production of tomatoes in Great Britain is very minor and insufficient to meet the national demand, except in summer. Actually, during the winter months it has to import 90% of the tomatoes consumed in the country, and a large part of them come from Spain, as well as Morocco, also affected by a similar weather situation.
The BBC contacted the Spanish Government to ask the reason for such a shortage and spokespersons for the Executive confirmed that the supply of this product “is currently lower & rdquor; than usual. Apparently, this situation is due to the weather: “There were unusually high temperatures from the end of summer until December & rdquor; and immediately afterwards there was “a sudden arrival of low temperatures in January, which caused a drop in the supply,” according to the explanations of the Government to the aforementioned media outlet.
Waitrose supermarkets chief executive James Bailey told LBC: “It has snowed and hailed in Spain, and it has also done so in North Africa, which is destroying a large part of the crops” and hoped that the situation would be restored in the coming days.
The Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers of Almería, Coexpal, admitted days ago that production had dropped by 22% compared to the same period of the previous year and some companies had problems meeting shipments to their customers. Apparently, in Morocco, the export of tomatoes has even been prohibited to guarantee availability on the domestic market.
And the Brexit gives the lunge
However, the British media also accuse Brexit in part of this situation. The multiplication of bureaucracy for the entry of trucks from the EU to Great Britain means that vegetables do not arrive at the same rate as before, when the country was part of the Union. Each truck entering the UK requires filling out long and complex forms, they must wait in long queues of several hours and many hauliers refuse to perform these services outright under such conditions.
Reference article: https://www.bbc.com/news/64762429
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