Supermarkets face iceberg shortage

Eating more vegetables may be a little bit difficult at the moment, as more and more produce is being affected by bad weather. We’ve already seen spinach and courgettes disappear off the shelves due to rain and snow in Spain, but now it seems that the humble iceberg lettuce is suffering.

In fact, many supermarkets have actually put restrictions on the number of iceberg lettuces shoppers can buy in a bid to stop them buying in bulk. With the shortage affecting wholesalers as well as individual shoppers, the restrictions are aimed at stopping restaurants and cafes depleting current stores of the vegetable.

In some cases, other vegetable purchases are also being limited as the weather in many areas of the world continues to affect farmers. Other shortages currently hitting shops include celery, aubergine, salad and courgettes, meaning you may want to buy these when you can or start looking for alternatives.

While some shops are already completely sold out of Britain’s favourite type of lettuce, others have been forced to raise the price. With imports from Spain being badly hit by the weather, more imports are coming in from the US, which costs a lot more.

This means that you may find the cost of your lunchtime salad has gone up compared to last week, with some stores selling US-grown iceberg lettuces for over £1 each.

A lot of the fresh vegetables on sale in the UK come from two main areas of Spain; Valencia and Murcia. Unfortunately, both of these areas have experienced unseasonable weather, including heavy snowfall, which has caused havoc for farmers.

The last few weeks have seen courgettes, artichokes, broccoli, green beans and cucumbers all become scarce, with prices skyrocketing on all of these when they are available.

According to vegetable wholesalers, it could be weeks before we start to see the supermarket shelves getting restocked with all of our favourite green veggies.

Rather than using it as an excuse to just cut down on the number of vegetables on your plate, stock up on those that are widely available to bulk out your meals. Alternatively, you can make the most of frozen vegetables, which can be steamed, baked or boiled and still retain most of the goodness of fresh vegetables.