Salad crops including cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce are now most affected. Supplies of aubergines and lemons have also been hit, as have field crops in Spain including broccoli and lettuce. In the UK, frost has damaged production of brassicas, especially cabbage and cauliflower.

Martin Lewis: Do you have a Power of Attorney? It’s crucial protection – not just for the elderly – and more important than a will However, eggs are also undergoing shortages, after producers were hit by rising costs and the UK’s worst-ever outbreak of avian influenza. This requires all birds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland, to be kept indoors, pushing up already soaring heating and lighting costs for egg producers.

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NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, which are all part of the NatWest Group, will now shut at least 172 of their bank branches in 2023 and 2024. One issue is reduced output from British farms. The president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Minette Batters, told the union’s annual conference on Tuesday that “domestic production of salad, including cucumbers and tomatoes, has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1985”. At this time of year, Britain relies on Spain, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt for the bulk of salad imports. However, these crops have been affected by unusually cold weather last month, including intense night frosts, while tomato plants have also been damaged or killed by disease – in particular the tomato brown rugose virus. The NFU is calling for more support to energy-reliant British farmers. At its annual conference, Batters criticised government policy, pointing out that botanical gardens with large glasshouses have received support with their energy bills through the energy relief scheme, while food producers with greenhouses have not.

Yet, even as wholesale prices for salad crops surge, growers will not necessarily be able to earn more for their produce, as they are often tied into contracts with retailers and suppliers. Angel Delight is lovely. Blancmange is hideous. Butterscotch, obviously. Is Blancmange the same as Angel Delight? There is a new Tesco being built, on the edge of town. It prolly won't be any cheaper than sainsburys, but should provide more competition, and thus help keep prices stable or bring them down a bit. It's also on the bus route. Sainsbury’s has been importing eggs from Italy since late last year as a result of shortages in British supply. What could be done to help the situation? It seems so. There are no reports of shortages in France and Germany and European shoppers have shared photos on social media of full supermarket shelves, in stark contrast to British supermarkets.NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank to close at least 172 branches in 2023/24 – here's the full list, plus alternatives It doesn't take much to persuade regular customers with a car to switch their custom - and I have done just that. Asda's loss, Tesco's gain - and I won't shop at Lidl or Aldi because their ranges are too limited. Supermarkets need to stay on their toes simply because I and many others can and do. But I have no problem with buying own brand stuff if we like it as much as the branded stuff. Meanwhile, Britain and other northern European countries – particularly the Netherlands which is a big vegetable producer – have reduced how many crops they have planted over the winter, after the Ukraine war sent bills soaring for the energy required to light and heat greenhouses and the cost of the fertiliser used on plants.

Big stores have four-weekly promotion, manufacturers "buy" the "ends" of aisles or promotional features to have their products displayed there in the four weeks . I can only imagine this has had a significant negative effect on the sainsburys store (if repeated uk wide, explains the forthcoming 2000 job losses). Faced with higher costs for glasshouse crops, some retailers chose to rely more heavily this year on sourcing from Spain and north Africa, leaving them more vulnerable to the weather-triggered shortages. Are things worse in the UK than the rest of Europe?Pearce Duff’s Strawberry Blancmange 35G – Tesco Groceries. Is blancmange the same as Angel Delight? But, there is always a flip side to a story. There is a significant % of the population here which don't drive for various reasons. These people are effectively a captive market for the local supermarket.

In the UK, a cold snap and frost before Christmas also damaged field crops including cauliflower, cabbage and carrots. Sometimes a retailer will de-list a major brand's product (usually temporarily) if they can't negotiate the price they want.

The farming minister, Mark Spencer, told the conference that the Treasury and the government’s business department were examining these schemes. Switching stores is something we did a few years ago. Was spending a fortune in the local sainsburys. Do you have a Power of Attorney? MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis explains how this crucial protection works, why it's more important than a will, and how to get one in the latest episode of ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show Live. We seem to be doing similar to a lot of people. There's a few items which we still get from sainsburys because they are either better than the equivalent lidl product or simply aren't available in lidl. It's quite amusing when driving out of the sainsburys car park, the cars behind often follow and follow us straight to the lidl store.