Price increases and potential shortages loom if the government and retailers don’t provide support, UK vegetable growers warn
Price rises and shortages are on the cards in the UK, farmers and producers have warned, without rapid support from the government and retailers.
Higher costs could force some UK growers of products like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines to “pull their plants out” of the ground, according to a report in the Guardian, potentially resulting in gaps on shelves.
In the face of surging energy costs, Lee Stiles, secretary of the Lea Valley Growers’ Association, has called for glasshouse producers to be included on a list of “energy-intensive users”.
This month’s increase in standing charges, the fixed daily cost, is pushing energy bills up even further.
“Growers have already bought plants and use labour to bring them up for three to four months so far,” Stiles told the newspaper. “When you do the maths, they don’t add up. They would lose less money by sending workers home, pulling the plants out and turning off the boiler. They would still lose money but less. It’s not much of a choice.”
Stiles has equally called on retailers to renegotiate contracts with growers to reflect the rise in costs. He warned that if growers chose to discontinue harvesting, European glasshouses would struggle to make up the shortfall, culminating in a possible repeat of the shortages witnessed in early 2023.
