Erratic weather conditions are hampering the supply of several vegetable lines across Europe and sending wholesale prices on some lines sharply upward.

Iceberg lettuce reached 1000p a box on wholesale markets last week, with some traders seeing reach up to 1200p.

According to Peter Davis from importer Davis Louth, recent heavy rains in Spain are severely disrupting supply. “Iceberg is making 900p a box and it’s very lightweight. It’s not growing because of some heavy rain and we’ve not done a third of what we should be doing,” he told FPJ.

Les Arrundel from Hedon Salads said that the shortage had led some suppliers to fly in iceberg from the US. “It hasn’t really reached as far down as Almeria, but in the open-field areas of Murcia, there’s been a lot of rain,” he said.

Cauliflower prices have also strengthened in the past few days with the recent cold snap across the UK holding back growth.

“The crop, up until the end of last week was running fairly well ahead of itself with the mild autumn, but the cold spell has stopped it growing so there’s a big dip in availability,” said Richard Mowbray of brassica growers Smith and Co. (Farm Produce) Ltd.

Davis said tight supply has meant his company buying supplies from French auctions at 850p for 8s.

But France is also suffering, with both cold and dry conditions, he said: “Brittany is in desperate need of rain and temperatures of up to -2°C means it is just not growing.

“Prices have gone through the roof and supermarkets are losing an absolute fortune.”

Courgettes are also making some high prices. According to Davis, supplies began last week at 400p and reached 750p by the week’s close. He said a recent two-day national holiday had caused a significant disruption to supply.

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