Apples and pears could be next UK food shortage, farmers warn

theguardian.com:

Apples and pears could be the next food shortage in the UK, after it emerged that British growers are planting just a third of the number of trees needed to maintain orchards, saying their returns from selling to supermarkets are unsustainable.

Ali Capper, head of the British Apples & Pears trade association which represents about 80% of the industry in the UK, said 1m new trees would have to be planted each year to maintain the UK’s 5,500 hectares (13,590 acres) of production.

This year farmers had planned to order just 480,000 apple and pear trees but that has been slashed to 330,000. Capper said the key reason for the lack of investment was “supermarket returns that are unsustainable”.

She said fruit growers’ costs had increased by about 23% as the cost of picking, energy, haulage and packaging had risen but that was being met by a less than 1% increase in returns. “The majority of growers are losing money.”

Some are planning to quit the industry and others have effectively mothballed their orchards or are grubbing them up as the returns dwindle. “This is a very serious situation,” said Capper. “The future of apple and pear growing in the UK is seriously in doubt.”

Britain is already facing shortages of multiple fresh food items, prompting Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons this week to limit purchases of certain lines including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

The shortages have been triggered by cold weather in Spain and north Africa hitting crops there and by big cutbacks by British and Dutch growers, who plant salads under glass at this time of year, as growers say supermarkets were not prepared to cover the increased cost of heating.

Some importers say Brexit has also meant the UK is at the back of the queue behind the EU