Cucumbergeddon

[Jaded]

Not a cucumber to be found.

I believe tomatoes are in short supply too.

[Hot Flatus]

That is your evening ruined

[Wowbagger]

Riding the green lizard?

[rogerzilla]

Cucumbers are pointless watery green tubes, but tomatoes are serious.

[spesh]

Cucumbers are pointless watery green tubes, but tomatoes are serious.

Indeed...

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.

Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Philosophy is wondering if a Bloody Mary counts as a smoothie.

[hellymedic]

Cucumbers are pointless watery green tubes, but tomatoes are serious.

I think D would agree with that.
I like cucumbers and have had no supply issues, though have pickles for these, and whim.

AIUI Tomatoes have quite a lot of glutamic acid, which makes them serious (umami) cookery flavour enhancers.

[Jurek]

Cucumbers are pointless watery green tubes, but tomatoes are serious.

No cucumber = no tzaziki.

[citoyen]

To be fair, we really shouldn’t be expecting to have tomatoes and cucumbers in February anyway.

[rogerzilla]

Mangel-wurzels and cabbages for all.

[Jaded]

Saved by Waitrose...

[IanDG]

No tomatoes in Morrisons yesterday - picked the last 2 packs up from Aldi. Issues with deliveries from Spain apparently

[hellymedic]

Auntie reports Tomatogeddon…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64712361

[rogerzilla]

None in Sains or Trose tonight.  Brexit bastards.

[L CC]

No tomatoes or cucumber in that Tesco they have in Durham.

[Wowbagger]

I had a tomato with my tea today. I don't even like tomatoes that much. I call it "duty salad".

[Jurek]

I picked up one of the last packs of toms in Sainos last night.

[Mr Larrington]

I shall treat this shortage of (spits) salad with equanimity.

[pcolbeck]

So whats going on here?

All the main media (TV and print) say its because of bad weather in Spain and Morocco. However the rest of Europe appears to have no problems with getting fresh tomato's or any other kind of fruit or veg.

If the shortage really is confined to the UK then perhaps journalists should be reporting exactly why in a bit more detail than "retail associations says bad weather".

[graculus]

..
All the main media (TV and print) say its because of bad weather in Spain and Morocco. However the rest of Europe appears to have no problems with getting fresh tomato's or any other kind of fruit or veg. ..

What I heard (but can't remember which R4 programme) was that European countries were subject to the same problems, but suppliers there were more willing to pay higher prices and pass them on to customers.

[Snakehips]

This is what Riverford have to say on the matter

Images of bare supermarket shelves are spreading on social media and news headlines are referencing fresh food shortages.
The issues are mainly to do with low temperatures in Spain, which is affecting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other crops. There’s plenty in the fields/in polytunnels, but the food isn’t growing/ripening due to colder than normal temperatures.
In the UK, we are so used to having a year-round supply of foods from a global market. Bananas, tomatoes, peppers, even asparagus and berries – they are all available whenever we may want them on supermarket shelves. We have lost our sense of seasonality.
So when shortages crop up, like they are now, wholesale costs shoot up. Peppers are almost triple the wholesale price right now.
Our growers are experiencing the same issues and have less availability than planned for us (50% less), but there are still some tomatoes and peppers to send our way.
They could get twice (if not more) the price for their tomatoes and peppers right now, but are honouring their word and selling them to us for the previously agreed price.
This is all down to a mutual respect and strong, personal relationships. We commit to buy set amounts from our growers, way ahead of harvest, and often before they have even planted the crop – this is almost unheard of in our industry, and offers farmers a level of security which is so rare in supermarket supply chains.
They don’t have to make the same commitment back – we don’t put pressure on them to provide a set amount, because you never know what might happen in the world of farming (i.e unpredictable weather), and this kind of pressure is what forces many supermarket growers to overproduce, to make sure they have enough available for however much a supermarket might want to buy at any one time. This leads to huge amounts of food waste.
So if you’re wondering why Riverford is seemingly the only place where you can find tomatoes right now, we hope this explains why (as well as highlighting how fragile food security is in the UK!).

[Cudzoziemiec]

In the UK, we are so used to having a year-round supply of foods from a global market. Bananas, tomatoes, peppers, even asparagus and berries – they are all available whenever we may want them on supermarket shelves. We have lost our sense of seasonality.

This is a basic point, and I think Citoyen raised it above. But just one nit to pick – bananas are not seasonal. 

I noticed tomatoes in the Coop yesterday, but they looked pretty anaemic. I didn't notice the price cos I didn't want any. Couldn't see any cucumbers.

[Kim]

All the main media (TV and print) say its because of bad weather in Spain and Morocco. However the rest of Europe appears to have no problems with getting fresh tomato's or any other kind of fruit or veg. ..

What I heard (but can't remember which R4 programme) was that European countries were subject to the same problems, but suppliers there were more willing to pay higher prices and pass them on to customers.

Stands to reason that if you've got a limited number of items to sell, you'll prefer to sell them to the people who don't require you to do a pile of extra paperwork and have the lorries sit in a massive queueueueue, so BRITAIN is going to get last dibs.

I read that part of the underlying cause was long-term water shortages in the tomato-growing regions of Spain, exacerbated by the water-growing regions wanting to keep it for themselves.  Obviously that's the stuff of climate change, and is about as likely to be reported in the UK media as the consequences of Brexit.

[Flite]

However the rest of Europe appears to have no problems with getting fresh tomato's or any other kind of fruit or veg. ..

British supermarkets tend to have long term contracts with growers, fixed price.
I hear that European retailers work on shorter term supply chains, with prices based on the monthly averages at the big auctions, so currently higher prices. Growers will be more willing to supply to European retailers than the British

[Flite]

And it's been known since last year that British growers were planning to grow less or no early crops, as the cost of heating glasshouses has become prohibitive. If we want British glasshouse-grown produce in the winter, it has to be more expensive. Otherwise, as now, we are at the mercy of world markets and weather effects.

[ian]

The Duracell of Stupid, John Redwood has opined 'now we are short of imported salad food will the government do more to support UK farmers growing the food we need? Stop subsidies to leave land wild and spend the money on new food growing.'

Good luck growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the UK in February.