15 January 2024 , 13:47
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Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are just some of the supermarkets to agree to start selling smaller veg after weather disrupted crop growth.
Heavy rainfall over late autumn, Christmas and into the New Year, affected crops of cauliflowers, sprouts, cabbages and leeks in Lincolnshire, East Anglia, Cornwall and Scotland. Due to this, there has been a relaxation on size requirements for these items. This means supermarkets will be selling the items, but they will be smaller than usual.
Tesco announced that it was accepting smaller-sized vegetables last week, with Morrisons and Sainsbury's confirming they will soon after. Under the arrangement, farmers will supply grocers with more of their crop so they do nt have to sell at lower prices on the open market.
Tom Mackintosh, the fresh produce and horticulture director at Tesco, said: “By accepting slightly smaller sprouts, cauliflower, cabbages and leeks, we can support the fresh produce industry while ensuring that customers can continue to buy British winter vegetables.”
A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “The recent weather has clearly been very challenging for the UK farming industry and to support our growing partners we have made adjustments to specifications to allow cosmetic blemishes that do not detract from quality. These specification changes ensure both availability of our excellent British vegetables such as sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, greens and onions as well as a fair return to UK farmers.”
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Sainsbury’s said it worked closely with its suppliers and accepted misshaped vegetables "all year round" to avoid food waste and will be accepting sprouts, onions, potatoes and cabbages that may be under or oversized, or slightly misshapen.. Morrisons and Sainsbury's alongside other supermarket chains have "wonky veg" schemes in place to help minimise waste.
John Moulding, the commercial director of TH Clements, said: “This is the worst flooding we have had this century and we have lost about 20% of our total winter crops including sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower and leaks. It’s been a very tough time for us for more than three months both physically and financially in having to pull the vegetables out of the muddy fields. We have literally had to race against the clock to get the vegetables pulled out of the ground to stop them from rotting."
In its announcement, Tesco assured customers that these winter vegetables may be slightly smaller than usual but will still have the ”same great taste”.