Restaurants hit by fruit and vegetable supply shortages
Restaurants are reporting major issues with the quality and supply of fruit and vegetables as prices continue to rise.
The UK has been hit with a shortage of common salad ingredients due in part to cold weather in Europe and high energy costs impacting UK glasshouse growers.
Alex Crepy, co-founder of Amelie Restaurant and Chez Amelie Café in Cambridge, said he was struggling to buy rocket and herbs to serve with his flatbread pizzas.
Crepy sources his produce from a national distributor but said shelves in the wholesaler were only around 40% full.
"What we're seeing is a lack of supply of vegetables, predominantly salads, which is a real killer for us," said Crepy.
"We've got fixed menus in our restaurants which are heavy on rocket, herbs, and romaine lettuce and we make houmous fresh with chickpeas, but these things are not being restocked.
"For the past three months I've also not been seeing good quality lettuce, salads, or herbs. That's not the distributors' fault, I don't know if they've had issues with the logistics, but items have not been fresh."
Philip Inzani (pictured below), founder of Polo 24 Hour Bar in London, said he was seeing "mass shortages" in the supply of fruit and vegetables.
He added: "We are struggling to get avocado and berries in particular. This is very problematic as we serve these items 24 hours a day in various dishes. We are caught between a rock and hard place as we do not want to increase prices and alienate our customers as this would cause harm to the business."
Several hospitality businesses told The Caterer they had not experienced supply issues as they worked with local suppliers and bought seasonally, but others said costs had forced them to change their menus.
What is causing the supply problems?
Much of the UK's fresh salad produce is sourced from growers in southern Europe, including Spain, while Morocco is a major supplier of tomatoes.
High summer temperatures in Europe followed by a freezing winter have damaged crops including tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers. Storms have also prevented ferries from sailing from Morocco.
Wholesaler Heritage Fine Foods, which supplies restaurants, pubs, cafes, care homes and schools in the south-west of England, has been advising catering customers to use alternative products for the last three weeks.
The business works with two Spanish suppliers which last week invoked a force majeure clause, which is used when a contract cannot be fulfilled due to an extraordinary event outside of the company's control.
"This is an unprecedented event that we haven't really seen in previous years…I have seen blips on some items before but never over such a wide range of products," said Ken Mortimer, managing director of Heritage Fine Foods.
While many supermarket shelves in the UK have been empty, pictures on social media have shown stores across continental Europe still well-stocked with produce.
The Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA), which produces around three-quarters of the UK's cucumbers and peppers, said shortages of some produce could last until May.
The LVGA told the BBC that growers were struggling with high energy costs for greenhouses and low prices being offered by supermarkets for their produce.
Rachel Dobson, managing director of hospitality buying specialist Lynx Purchasing, said hospitality operators should plan for both potential shortages of supplies and further cost increases.
She added: "The availability issue is hopefully a relatively short-term challenge, but new crops can't be grown overnight, so it is likely to be a significant issue for the next few months. As always, operators that can keep menu descriptions flexible will be best placed to make the most of limited availability."
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