Asda lifts vegetable restrictions

Asda is lifting restrictions on the sale of some fruit and vegetables as supply issues are beginning to ease.

Limits on cucumbers, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries and salad leaves will be lifted.

However, restrictions of three per person on tomatoes and peppers will remain.

Supermarkets including Tesco and Lidl had restricted sales of some vegetables, blaming shortages on bad weather in growing regions.

Asda said that supply of remaining restricted produce is expected to be back to normal within weeks.

The unusually cold spell of weather in Europe and North Africa affected some harvests which then had a knock-on effect on supply of fruit and vegetables to the UK.

In the winter months the UK imports around 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of its lettuces, most of them from Spain and north Africa, according to trade group the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The UK also gets some produce at this time of year from domestic growers and the Netherlands, but those supplies have been tighter since farmers in both countries have cut back on their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.

The National Farmers' Union has called for more support for UK growers.

The idea behind the supermarket restrictions was to ensure that as many customers as possible could buy what they need.

Food and farming minister Mark Spencer held a video meeting with representatives from UK supermarkets in late February, aimed at finding out what supermarkets were doing to "get shelves stocked again" and how the UK can avoid a repeat of the current situation.

Mr Spencer had asked retailers to "look again" at how they work with farmers to "further build preparedness for these unexpected incidents".