January frost, snow and rain in Spain have led to a reduced supply of tomatoes and cucumbers to the Irish and UK markets.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are scarce on supermarket shelves in Ireland and the UK this week, as Spain struggles with supply issues.

The price of tomatoes and cucumbers produced on the continent has sky rocketed in recent days due to low availability, with many wholesale suppliers to supermarkets here in Ireland not delivering.

Dublin tomato grower Matt Foley described how a box of nine 250g cherry tomato punnets went from €6 to €28 in the space of a few days.

“You couldn’t get enough for them to justify prices like that. Some of the wholesalers just aren’t bringing them in,” said Foley, whose own tomatoes won’t be ready for another few weeks.

From May to September, Irish tomato and cucumber growers provide up to 55% of the country’s consumer demand, but in off season, the majority of the produce comes from Spain, Morocco and Holland.

Weather

Spain was hit by a bad frost in early January and there was even snow in southern parts, followed by heavy rain, said Foley.

He explained that these weather conditions hit tomato and cucumber crops badly, leading to a “shortage” of supply and the now significantly inflated prices.

The Dublin farmer suggested that consumers will have to get used to paying more for these products, as even once Irish-grown crops come on stream, “they’re going to be extraordinarily expensive”.

These crops will be ripe and ready for harvest from mid-March.

“It’ll be April before we see any quantities here in Ireland. You’ll get [tomatoes and cucumbers], but they’re going to be extraordinarily expensive,” he said.

Referencing inflated energy costs, Foley claimed “the day of cheap food is gone”.