Buyer’s Update – 21st Feb

Challenging Times

There’s a lot going on in the fruit and veg world, so here’s an update from our Lee on what’s happening in order to help you plan and adjust your menus over the coming weeks and months.

Let’s start with the good news…Yorkshire forced rhubarb is great, and salad will start to improve going forwards now that the light levels are getting better as the super sunshine helps growth.

Now for the not so good news…This time of year is normally challenging for most growers, but this year particularly so.

The empty shelves in supermarkets where fresh produce should sit, and the limits as to how much customers can buy shows how affected the market is across the board.
The droughts of last summer led to poor planting conditions. The mild autumn, and more recently a significant reduction in temperatures (frosts, snow, sunlight) across the UK and Europe has led to major reduction in yields, size and an increase in quality issues across a number of products, with some growers are seeing 30-40% reductions in usable yield.

With the issues, and high production prices on certain lines, farmers are reluctant to put anything in the ground without return, only planting what they know they will sell – so there is no buffer. This forces market price fluctuations and creates availability issues.

Find out more about the key products facing challenging times in our Buyer’s Update below. (Click the image to view the PDF):