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It has been announced that Lidl is the latest supermarket to lift all restrictions on fruit and vegetable sales that were previously in place due to shortages.
BBC News reported: “It’s been reported by our broadcast journalist that Lidl is set to lift all restrictions on fruit and vegetable sales from Monday.
“It had introduced this limit on three items per customer; peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.
“It joined Asda and Morrisons in lifting these caps for shoppers…supply issues being reported beginning to ease.
“Asda fully lifted restrictions on cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and salad leaves.
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“Morrisons will be lifting limits on cucumbers, but Lidl one of those supermarkets that has become quite important during the cost of living crisis in terms of being affordable, is set to lift all restrictions on fruit and vegetables sales from Monday.”
While Asda has lifted a limit of three cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and salad leaves, it is still only allowing customers to buy a maximum of three tomatoes and peppers.
But the UK’s third-largest supermarket expects supplies to return to normal levels within the next few weeks.
Morrisons is still only allowing customers to buy a maximum of two tomatoes, lettuce and peppers.
As for why supermarkets have been rationing fresh products, adverse weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have caused supply issues resulting in shortages.
Andrew Opie, Director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents UK supermarkets, spoke about the issue.
He said: “Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have disrupted the harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes and peppers.
“While disruption is expected to last a few weeks, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers can access a wide range of fresh produce
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“In the meantime, some stores are introducing temporary limits on the number of products customers can buy to ensure availability for everyone.”
President of the National Farmers’ Union, Minette Batters, told BBC Breakfast that “the more we face shortages, the more it will drive food inflation”.
“We’ve got to come up with a way of making sure we can keep producing what the nation needs.
“We’ve got 70 million people in this country, it’s an island nation, and food security needs to be taken really seriously.”
