'High temperatures in Poland over the summer brought fruit on early and it is tailing off early,' explained AFI's Ian Waller. 'We are now looking at a possible shortage situation in September.

He confirmed some supplies had also been hit by the heavy rains which caused devastating floods on the continent. But that the impact on production was not as catastrophic as it has been on towns and cities.

'We are already seeing prices for blueberries rise quite quickly in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany and we will soon see steep price rises here too,' said Waller.

AFI is preparing to fill the September gap with stored fruit from Poland and supplies from the US. After that, the company will turn to the southern hemisphere for fruit from Argentina in mid-October and Australia in mid-to-late October.

However, KG Fruits reports little disruption to its season. 'We are now well through the Polish season and looking forward to the first sendings from Argentina at the beginning of September,' said md Nick Marston.

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