Supermarket bosses summoned for government talks amid food shortage crisis

As Lidl imposes rations, some restaurants are adapting their menus to cope with vegetable shortages. ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports.

Supermarket bosses have been summoned for crisis talks with the government in an attempt to solve food shortages across the UK.

Food Minister Mark Spencer will host the executives as he seeks to find a way to get shelves stocked again, amid fears rationing could last several more weeks.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has warned that shortages of some fruit and vegetables in British supermarkets could be "the tip of the iceberg".

Mr Spencer said: "The current situation - caused by recent poor weather in north Africa - shows how dependent we can be on certain trade routes for some types of food.

"I know families expect the fresh produce they need to be on the shelves when they go in for their weekly shop. That is why I am calling in supermarket chiefs to find out what they are doing to get shelves stocked again and to outline how we can avoid a repeat of this.

"As we do our shopping, we should all give our thanks to the UK's tens of thousands of farmers and food producers for keeping us fed throughout the year and particularly showing their mettle keeping the nation going during the pandemic."

However, in an attempt to reassure shoppers, Mr Spencer described the nation's food supply chain as "extremely resilient".

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A selection of fruit and vegetable products, including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, have seen their supplies dwindle recently, prompting some stores to limit the number of items each customer can purchase.

On Monday, Lidl became the latest supermarket to introduce buyer limits, but stressed it continues to have good availability across the majority of its stores.

British producers have blamed rising energy bills for low yields, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine exacerbating problems and forcing many to stop running greenhouses.

Meanwhile, retailers believe the problems also stem from poor yields on the continent and north Africa, but are hopeful that supplies will improve in the coming days or weeks.

NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw said a reliance on imports has left the UK vulnerable to "shock weather events".

He said the UK has now "hit a tipping point" and needs to "take command of the food we produce" amid "volatility around the world".

Mr Bradshaw told Times Radio: "We've been warning about this moment for the past year.

"The tragic events in Ukraine have driven inflation, particularly energy inflation to levels that we haven't seen before.

"There's a lack of confidence from the growers that they're going to get the returns that justify planting their glasshouses, and at the moment we've got a lot of glasshouses that would be growing the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergine that are sitting there empty because they simply couldn't take the risk to plant them with the crops, not thinking they'd get the returns from the marketplace."

Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said retailers are working hard to working to address the challenges and confirmed that customers should start to see an improvement in the coming weeks.

"While the majority food sold in supermarkets comes from the UK, there remains a key role for imported food, particularly out of the UK growing season, to maintain the supply of affordable food for UK households," he added.

"Retailers acknowledged the importance of food security, but noted that this requires a wider strategy involving Government, farmers, food manufacturers, retailers and hospitality.”

Warnings have now been issued of possible shortages for leeks, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower within weeks, according to the chief executive of the British Growers Association (BGA).

The BGA has also warned that the future of British apple and pear-growing is "on a knife edge", after it was found that 150,000 orders for new apple and pear trees - a third of the planned 480,000 - have been cancelled this season.