Tomato shortage: Asda and Tesco in Northern Ireland introduce customer limit of three on certain fruit and veg

A combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe has seen UK supermarket shelves left bare of tomatoes, as well as dwindling stocks of some other fresh produce.

In Northern Ireland Asda and Tesco have introduced a customer limit of three on certain fruit and vegetables while Aldi and Morrisons, which do not have a presence in the Province, have done likewise. As yet Sainsbury's, Lidl and M&S have not announced any limits.

Meanwhile the proprietor of McElroy’s Fruit and Veg on the Upper Newtownards Road, Gerald Lappin, said it was a business as usual: "Certainly there’s a been a slight increase in the price because there’s less available and the demand is high.

"The prices have become a bit more inflated, but the supply chain is still with us.”

He said their fruit and veg comes from a local wholesalers but is shipped from overseas locations such as Spain and Holland via Irish supplier Dole, who are part of the worldwide Total Produce group.

Mr Lappin said that the empty shelves in supermarkets may be down to using different supply chains.

He commented: "We have noticed people coming in because they can’t get certain things at their local supermarket, hopefully when they’re here they’ll purchase another item or two as well.

"We’re bringing in top quality produce, when they experience that and taste the difference there is generally a follow-up return visit.”

Of the current shortages he said: "It’ll only be a blip. It will pass. There are other producers who will come on board, particularly from Holland.”

Over on the Cregagh Road, Phillip Coulter at the Bethany Fruit Market reported a similar situation whereby their stocks have not plummeted thanks to the same reliable supply chain.

He said: “We go to the (wholesale) market every day and we’ve been able to maintain our in-shop stock levels reasonably well.

"A lot of the supermarket products come via England so there’s issues there coming via Belfast port. With the wholesalers here that 99% of independent greengrocers buy from, their produce is imported and brought through Dublin so there’s no issues that way.”