Tomato, cucumber and pepper groups say British self-sufficiency will take a hit without action
The British Tomato Growers’ Association (BTGA) and Cucumber & Pepper Growers’ Association (CPGA) have written to MPs Peter Kyle and Dame Angela Eagle to once again flag up the impending energy price crisis facing UK protected crop growers.
From 1 April, protected horticulture growers will be hit with millions of pounds in unavoidable electricity standing charge increases, which will hit at the same time as the ongoing Iran-related gas price spike that has more than doubled wholesale prices since late February.
For businesses where energy can make up 30 per cent of production costs, BTGA chair Simon Conway and CPGA chair Joe Shepherdson say this combination is unsustainable.
The letter to farming minister Eagle and secretary of state for business and trade Kyle urges immediate relief from 1 April through inclusion in the relevant exemption schemes, which the trade associations say is the only targeted mechanism currently available and capable of preventing growers from scaling back or halting production altogether.
With Parliament rising for Easter ahead of the costs hitting next week, the window for action is extremely tight, they add.
“Growers have invested heavily in efficiency, decarbonisation, and innovation,” the letter states. “Many have reduced energy consumption, adopted CHP systems, and implemented advanced climate-control technologies.
“Yet the current standing charge model penalises these very efforts by imposing high fixed costs that cannot be mitigated through efficiency or behaviour change. This is a sector central to UK food security, supplying tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other essential crops year‑round.”
Conway and Shepherdson argued that without rapid intervention, growers will be forced to scale back output or stop production entirely, increasing import dependence, undermining food security and putting renewed pressure on food inflation.
”In the current situation with compounding rising energy costs, failing to extend this relief risks destabilising the sector overnight. Inclusion in the exemption schemes from 1 April would provide the essential buffer growers need to maintain production, protect jobs, and safeguard domestic food supply.”
