It is not looking good for the supply of sprouts for this year's Christmas dinner. The weather, of course is the main culprit. It was wet way back when the sprouts were planted, then dry in August and September, meaning that yields will severely down this year.
This was further compounded by a few major growers in the UK who stopped growing sprouts after last year because it was impossible to break even.
Wilf Whittle from Sharrocks said that the company had worked with some of these growers for years and them stopping would cause a colossal shortage on the sprout market in the run up to Christmas.
The situation in Europe is similar with some areas seeing a total failure of the crop. Sprout growers in Brabant had a lot of rain back in June, the plants planted then have had to be destroyed with no production at all. The high temperatures in September have left production of the present cycle very limited. Only if temperatures rapidly decrease will there be any increase in production.
Wilf said they did not realise how bad the situation would be until they heard about the similar situation in Holland. He also said that some of the UK production has been earmarked for export to Europe, which normally would be a good thing, but this year will mean huge shortages in the UK.
