London, (EFE).- The main British supermarkets have restricted the number of certain vegetables that customers can buy due to a shortage of supply from Spain and Morocco, as reported by the companies themselves.
Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons have limited the amount of tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers that can be purchased, while Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Waitrose and M&S have so far not announced similar measures.
Supermarkets have alleged that their suppliers in Spain and Morocco have reduced their exports because their crops have been affected by bad weather.
The director of food and sustainability of the British Retail Trade Consortium, Andrew Opie, explained this Wednesday that “difficult weather conditions in southern Europe and north Africa have interrupted the harvest of some fruits and vegetables.”
Opie conceded that the outage may “last a few weeks” but assured that the country’s supermarkets, which in some cases have empty shelves, will be able to manage the shortage by turning to other farmers.
“In the meantime, some stores are introducing temporary limits on the number of products customers can buy to ensure there is availability for everyone,” he said.
Asked by journalists about this rationing, the British Minister for Agriculture and the Environment, Therese Coffey, said that “we cannot control the climate in Spain.”
Morrisons limits the sale of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers to two.