The recent rain and hail in Holland has been well reported, but what has been the effect on the supply of vegetables to the UK? According to Wilf Whittle from Sharrocks Fresh Produce (GT Group), it has been a tough few weeks but the situation is starting to ease now.
"Dutch peppers and cucumbers were mostly affected, prices were the highest we have seen in a long time, at one point close to record highs. But it was the lack of supply which was most worrying," explains Wilf. "There is not much local supply of cucumbers as one of the local suppliers closed down last year, so we don't have as much choice as we did before."
As a supplier to award winning retailers and wholesalers, Sharrocks Fresh Produce need a dependable supply to fill orders. "We need consistency, we have been getting some supply from Poland to fill the gaps and after a few deliveries we were quite impressed with the quality. Poland has been pushing more produce to the UK since the Russian ban and we already take Polish mushrooms. Polish peppers and cucumbers will not replace the Dutch ones but we will certainly take them again and increase our supply and our sales."
A week to ten days ago Dutch red peppers were £14 for a 5KG, while Dutch cucumbers were £13.50 again for a 5kg box, this is 50% up on the 'normal' price. It has eased off now as supply has increased.
