3 ms·

I don't understand why it's only UK supermarkets having problems? Germany and France each import more than twice as much Spanish vegetables as Britain, and they

I don't understand why it's only UK supermarkets having problems? Germany and France each import more than twice as much Spanish vegetables as Britain, and they aren't complaining about shortages. https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/ESP/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/Export/Partner/by-country/Product/06-15_Vegetable https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/ESP/Yea... I highly suspect this press release is not capturing all of the drivers involved. For example, is it really better for a company to have a failed crop than it is to keep the lights on and raise the price of the produce? In Britain already we've seen food inflation blamed on rising energy prices. So I don't get why they are letting crops fail. Seems like a false economy? Spains greenhouses are so massive they can be seen from space. https://maps.app.goo.gl/VYWDhmvzeLF8Ldns9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/VYWDhmvzeLF8Ldns9

jeroenhd 4y ago
Foreign vegetables and fruit are actually more expensive in other countries as well because of a disappointing harvest. Prices also go up as greenhouses, usually a safe fallback for countries which can't grow vegetables all year in their climate, are turned off because of natural gas prices (they can't go electric because they use the CO2 burning it off produces). This leads to more competition on the international market. Here in the Netherlands, some vegetables and fruits are also rationed. I haven't seen any empty shelves, but you can't buy too many bell peppers at once because there just aren't that many available for the listed price. Importing food hasn't exactly been made easy after Brexit either. I imagine that plays a role in jacking up the prices and restricting availability compared to the rest of western Europe as well.

3 ms·

I don't understand why it's only UK supermarkets having problems? Germany and France each import more than twice as much Spanish vegetables as Britain, and they

by irthomasthomas 4y ago

jeroenhd 4y ago
Foreign vegetables and fruit are actually more expensive in other countries as well because of a disappointing harvest. Prices also go up as greenhouses, usually a safe fallback for countries which can't grow vegetables all year in their climate, are turned off because of natural gas prices (they can't go electric because they use the CO2 burning it off produces). This leads to more competition on the international market. Here in the Netherlands, some vegetables and fruits are also rationed. I haven't seen any empty shelves, but you can't buy too many bell peppers at once because there just aren't that many available for the listed price. Importing food hasn't exactly been made easy after Brexit either. I imagine that plays a role in jacking up the prices and restricting availability compared to the rest of western Europe as well.