Aldi lifts restrictions on fresh fruit and veg after shortages ease

Aldi and Lidl will soon be the latest major supermarkets to lift restrictions on buying fresh fruit and vegetables.

The two German grocers joined three other chains last month in imposing purchase caps on customers amid a shortage of fresh produce.

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

Lidl will also lift all rationing for fruit and vegetables by Monday, which was initially introduced as a precaution.

Asda and Morrisons rolled back some of their own limits earlier this week.

Asda last week dropped the limit of three for cucumbers, lettuce, lettuce bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries.

Now there is only a three-point limit for tomatoes and peppers.

Availability has improved overall and aisle shelves should return to normal levels within weeks, Asda added.

Meanwhile, Morrisons lifted the maximum cap on pickles, now limiting customers to just two tomatoes, lettuce and peppers in their baskets.

Buyers first noticed shortages in late February, as tomatoes were among the first vegetables to disappear without a trace.

Other fruits and vegetables soon followed suit, including cucumbers, peppers and lettuce.

Retail bosses and food systems experts pointed to a range of reasons why this happened, from the Russia-Ukraine war and Brexit to cool temperatures in Spain.

According to Fepex, which represents Spanish growers, tomato sales in the province of Almería have fallen by 22%.

And other vegetables also crashed. Peppers and eggplants fell 25% and cucumbers 21%.

Production problems in Morocco also thwarted plans as frosty weather affected tomato ripening.

The snowball effects of the weather then caused ferries and truck deliveries to be cancelled.

Domestically, experts said rising electricity costs meant some growers could not afford to keep their greenhouses running. While many UK grocers are turning to cheaper food imports rather than investing in local production.

Faced with growing anger from farmers and customers already exhausted by the cost-of-living crisis, Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey had an idea.

Eat turnips instead.

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