Supermarket iceberg prices increase amid UK shortage
Sainsbury’s sells US-grown iceberg under the Farm Folk brand for £1.40 when discounter Aldi retails it for 78p. Some Aldi stores have even seen their stock sold out after the price raise was instated. To deal with the lack of supply Asda is selling US icebergs under T&A brand for £1.20. The prices for icebergs have been steady for weeks and have been around 50p in almost all UK supermarkets.
As we have reported before, the shortage has been blamed mostly on troubling weather in Spain which destroyed around 80% of yields for one of the major exporters. Spain is one of the main suppliers of iceberg for the UK and in desperation the country had to look to the US to fill the supply. Mud has washed over level fields with crop and those fields due to be planted, have become rivers of mud.
John McCann, managing director of Irish salad packer and processor Willowbrook Foods said: The crops are 80 per cent unusable and with up to four weeks of planting missed and little or no growth happening, a disaster is unfolding. What happens next will depend on the temperatures over the coming weeks.”
The shortage is expected to last six to eight weeks, until the next harvest comes to fruiton. While in store prices are on the rise online prices have remained at around 50p which is good news for online shoppers.
source: internationalsupermarketnews.com
