British supermarket giants Tesco and Asda are promising to increase retail prices to UK growers where necessary as a response to the severe flooding.
The supermarkets announced the news as growers warned that an increase in prices for fresh produce grown in the UK is very likely and major retailers must back their suppliers with better pricing or risk losing them altogether.
A spokeswoman for Britain’s leading supermarket Tesco said, “We are doing all we can to support our suppliers and to help them get their produce into stores . We are in close contact and as ever, retail prices will reflect any cost price rises in the supply chain.”
“Any growers that have product, we are paying the market price,” commented Asda.
“The retail price of broccoli has risen, we are supporting UK growers. We are absorbing some costs and maintaining a value price for UK product in respect of current conditions.”
The recent torrential weather has seen potato lifting come to a complete standstill in the West Midlands and Anthony Snell, NFU horticulture chairman for the region, estimated that the largest crop losses were in potatoes, with hundreds of acres lost.
In addition, there have been reports of damages to strawberry production in certain areas, while crops of field vegetables have also been affected. Snell warned that harvesting of leeks, carrots, parsnips, cauliflower and lettuce were all disrupted.
The impact on organic crops is likely to be even higher and one grower has lost his entire organic Sante potato crop in Norfolk .
Growers across the UK are being forced to spend more on the transportation of their crops from the fields to the market. In one case in the south west, farmers are having to use six tractors to drag a harvester through the field to harvest lettuce, while others are having to fork out an extra £100 an acre on crop protection measures for some lines.
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