Aldi to remove restrictions on tomatoes, cucumbers and more

Aldi joins Lidl and Asda in removing restrictions which meant customers were limited to buying a certain amount of some fresh produce.

Aldi said in a statement on Saturday: “From Monday (March 13), Aldi will remove all purchasing restrictions on fresh produce – including limits on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.”

Lidl also plans to remove all of its restrictions on fruit and vegetables by Monday.

Aldi customers will no longer be restricted when it comes to buying fresh produce (Image: PA)

Asda said despite it removing the limit of three on cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries, the limit of three on tomatoes and peppers remains.

The supermarket said availability overall has improved as expected and supplies of tomatoes and peppers are expected to be back to normal within a couple of weeks.

Why did the UK experience a shortage of fruit and vegetables?

Around February 20, 2023, shoppers started to see a shortage of tomatoes with retailers saying a combination of bad weather and related transport problems in north Africa and Europe were causing significant supply problems.

The shortage spread to other products leaving shelves bare of fresh produce items including cucumbers, peppers and lettuce.

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Tesco, Aldi and Lidl put restrictions on purchases of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers to three items per person while Morrisons set a limit of two per customer on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.

In January, production problems began in Morocco with unusually cold night temperatures affecting tomato ripening.

Growers and suppliers in Morocco also had to deal with heavy rain, flooding and cancelled ferries which affected the volume of produce able to reach Britain.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey suggested people missing imported food like tomatoes could eat more turnips (Image: Jacob King/PA)

Spain is Britain’s other major winter source and the country was also affected badly by weather.

These were compounded by ferry cancellations due to the weather hitting lorry deliveries.

Due to higher electricity prices, domestic producers also reported having to reduce their use of greenhouses.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey made headlines when, asked about the shortages, she suggested British consumers should eat more turnips instead of imported food.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said shortages of some fruit and vegetables in UK supermarkets could be “the tip of the iceberg”.

Deputy president Tom Bradshaw said a reliance on imports has left the UK vulnerable to “shock weather events”.

He said the UK had “hit a tipping point” and needed to “take command of the food we produce” amid “volatility around the world” caused by the war in Europe and climate change.