British growers have accused the big supermarkets of heaping pressure on struggling farmers with what they call ‘price war moves’. Soaring energy costs have trebled the cost of production for arable growers, particularly those producing cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines who rely on heated greenhouses to produce their crops.
Mintec has warned of potential supermarket shortages over the coming months due to the 'substantial pressure of rising costs' causing many vegetable producers to 'cease production'.
Last year, it cost about 25p to produce a cucumber in Britain, but this has soared to around 70p. Meanwhile, the Big Four supermarkets are selling whole cucumbers for 45p, as they are hoping to compete with the discounters. Aldi and Lidl together now have a 15.4 per cent share of the UK’s food retail market, according to survey data from Kantar, compared with only 5.5 per cent a decade ago, and the leading supermarkets are scrambling to retain customers.
Source: fpcfreshtalkdaily.co.uk
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