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Post by pcpa on Feb 22, 2023 23:57:01 GMT 1
Looking at the comments in the article linked to it seemed that the people have waited expectantly for the wheels to come off, if a seasonal shortage of tomatoes due to a poor harvest in Morocco is the best band wagon they can find after 2 years then it says a lot.
I'm sure billions of people all around the world would dream of a life where that was the worst problem they face.
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exile
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Massif Central
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Post by exile on Feb 23, 2023 10:33:55 GMT 1
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Nifty
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Post by Nifty on Feb 23, 2023 11:41:31 GMT 1
Of course! How can we be so stupid as not to see that the supermarkets are the main cause of this?
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Post by glazedallover on Feb 23, 2023 12:55:05 GMT 1
Much though we all want to blame Brexit, I do not believe the problem is there. Nor do I think it is the EU looking after its own. Traders will sell to whomsoever pays the best price. Morocco has suffered abnormally large snowfall and Southern Spain has also suffered bad weather, so there is less out-of-season vegetables available in Norther Europe. But is is available - unlike it seems in the UK. The prices here have gone up a great deal however. Small boxes of cherry toms were 99c a few weeks ago and are now 2.99€. There I think lies the problem. UK supermarket purchasing managers are just not prepared to pay the price required. No doubt their year end bonuses demand that they keep purchase prices below set levels and they are not prepared to lose their extra cash just to keep the customer happy. I can still get small banquettes of cherry toms for 99c at Inter as of today and plenty of them ! |
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Nifty
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Post by Nifty on Feb 23, 2023 13:25:04 GMT 1
My oh returned from a back from a shopping expedition a few hours ago.
Her first words to me were
‘ No bread ‘
I am used to it.
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Post by lindalovely on Feb 23, 2023 14:44:28 GMT 1
As with all things Brexit related it's a complicated picture and no doubt other factors also play a part. There was a notice in our local Carrefour a couple of weeks ago saying they were experiencing shortages in some fresh fruit and vegetables but I didn't think the shelves looked any different to normal this time of year and yesterday there was no shortage of tomatoes, salad stuff, cucumbers, broccoli etc in Le Clerc. I never buy the expensive tomatoes and cauliflowers this time of year, but eco broccoli was 99c and I got some Moroccan cherry tomatoes for 1.29. Mushrooms are good value at the moment. I think France is much better at supporting their own farmers and hence when there are shortfalls elsewhere there is plenty of fresh French produce to go round.
The single market was set up to make it easier for produce to travel freely within the EU and thus avoid member states having sudden shortages of certain foodstuffs due to seasonal crop failures, so if a country such as the UK, now outside of the single market, falls outside this protection, then it is not a surprise that shortages are more severe there. Add in the nation's obsession with cheap food that means farmers can't get a decent price, the shortage of cheap labour to pick crops, the cost of heating and you can see why the UK is struggling more than countries within the EU. Of course many of these factors are all over, but the UK climate means that it has never been able to to produce all its own food, even during the war years, and at the moment it seems to be struggling from an inability to organise itself out of a paper bag. Maybe because many of the people with the skills to do so gave up in exasperation when people said they had had enough of experts?
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
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Post by Aardvark on Feb 23, 2023 15:39:38 GMT 1
Just got back from Intermarche and Casino. Both had good stocks of fruit and veg. Only the spuds looked a little sad, going green.
Dunno about the prices. They always look too high to me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2023 18:18:34 GMT 1
Loads of fruit and veg in our Lidl. Also no "run" on frozen veg.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2023 18:22:19 GMT 1
so if a country such as the UK, now outside of the single market, falls outside this protection, then it is not a surprise that shortages are more severe there. As said on another posting of mine; no veg and fruit shortages up here in the far north of England where we live. |
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Post by jackie on Feb 23, 2023 18:59:45 GMT 1
Loads of fruit and veg in our Lidl. Also no "run" on frozen veg. Doesn’t mean to say there isn’t shortages elsewhere. Was back in UK last week and there were no tomatoes in the supermarkets also Twitter is flooded with pics of empty UK fruit and veg aisles…. |
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Post by pcpa on Feb 23, 2023 20:43:13 GMT 1
OMG, the world is coming to an end!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile not so far away peoples lives bear no relation to what they did a year ago, if they are lucky enough to still be alive that is.
I had to collect a parcel from a Point Relais which was a Primeur in another village, a tiny place with a varied selection of veg, certainly not cagettes full of the stuff but very fresh, reasonably priced and I'm sure she does not have much waste like the supermarkets.
I will shop there in future but there are 2 for me very negative points, the owner spend her time outside smoking with whatever pal has visited her and the place closes 3 hours for lunch.
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Post by tim17 on Feb 24, 2023 10:07:37 GMT 1
This is not all about Brexit.
The weather has caused shortages across Europe so the fruit and veg available is being snapped up by wholesalers willing to pay short term higher prices, UK supermarkets will not match those prices so don’t get the produce. To compound things, UK ‘under glass’ growers can’t meet the shortfall as the cost of energy has forced many to stop growing because again the supermarkets won’t pay them enough to make it viable.
Supposedly, the situation is going to continue for several weeks.
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
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Post by Aardvark on Feb 24, 2023 11:09:42 GMT 1
Clear and concise explanation Tim. Clearly has very little to do with Brexit. I have heard several confirmations of your post by people actually in the trade in UK. Those who blame Brexit need to dig a bit deeper.
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Post by pcpa on Feb 24, 2023 11:25:54 GMT 1
6 years since the referendum, 2 years of digging since the UK left the EU and the treasure trove for the seekers is rotten tomatoes!
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Post by pcpa on Feb 24, 2023 11:31:54 GMT 1
Playing devils advocat, do the independant greengrocers, if they even still exist, have vegetables?
No doubt at a much higher price like the Primeur I visited yesterday but then that was always the case, the supermarkets only sell what they can (buy and) sell cheaply, the sheeple go there wanting cheap not so fresh veg, may times a year certain items are not on the shelves but available at the market price at the primeurs, people have become so lazy, so quick to upload photos from their phones to Fessbook & Twatter that they have forgotten how to shop for seasonal fruit & veg & the varying prices, thats if they ever even knew.
But hey, blame it on Brexit, it ate my homework!
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