Every day, the correspondents’ club describes how the same current event is illustrated in two countries.
The British lack tomatoes from Spain, when this is not the case from other European countries such as France or Germany. What is going on ?
Spanish producers refuse to take the blame
The weather is partly responsible: a production of tomatoes arrived earlier than expected with milder temperatures than usual at the end of 2022. Another production arrived later, with on the contrary a cold snap and a lack of sun in from January. “Un product that usually grows in 90 days like a lettuce for example, this time needs 110 or 120 days. This causes a reduction in the available supply. We are talking about a drop of between 20 and 35%”, explain Fernando Gómez, general manager of the association of producers and exporters of the region of Murcia, in the south-east of Spain, which is part of what is known as the vegetable garden of Europe.
But the same causes do not produce effects everywhere: some UK supermarket chains negotiated prices in May or June 2022. Since then, there have been six months of inflation on top of weather issues. Under these conditions, there are customers who have accepted price increases, and others who have not: “In a situation where everyone is losing part of their production and where prices are rising, if you refuse to relax your conditions and support your supplier in the difficult situation he is facing, then you should not then demand that solves all the problems. It was the supermarkets that created the problems and decided not to offer these products to their customers, not us!“, details Fernando Gómez.
To this must be added Brexit, which increases transport prices and complicates the process of exporting.
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UK rations its tomatoes
The United Kingdom therefore lacks tomatoes, to the point that several supermarkets have decided to ration them. This is the case at Tesco, Morrison’s or Aldi. And it is not uncommon for tomatoes to have completely disappeared from the shelves at the end of the day.
Brexit is partly responsible for the situation: importing fruit and vegetables from the European common market has become more complicated. Each truck must complete and present documents to customs. Brexit also prevents British market gardeners from hiring European workers for basic tasks like picking.
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But the main problem is the weather, with cold temperatures this winter, in supplier countries and also in the United Kingdom, with very late periods of frost. This had the effect of destroying or at least reducing the usual harvests. These are often crops grown in greenhouses, which need to be heated. However, the price of energy and therefore of heating exploded this winter and farmers find themselves with bills that are too heavy to bear. Some have therefore reduced their production, so as not to sell at a loss.
The UK also relied heavily on Russian gas, so other sources had to be found and more expensive. This is also true for fuel, with a direct impact on agricultural production since machinery has to be used and refueled regularly. The production of tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers is therefore at its lowest. A level never reached since it was measured, that is to say almost 40 years.