Lettuce supply out of Spain is easing slightly due to better weather over the weekend although the market will remain tight until the end of the season, suppliers have said.
Baby leaf supply is expected to recover more quickly than wholehead, though there are tentative signs of recovery on iceberg lettuce, with yields improving to around 80 per cent in some cases.
Managing director of Bedfordshire Growers Stephen Hedderly, who supplies 45 per cent of Sainsbury’s lettuce, said while demand is around 180 pallets a week, he is now supplying around 135-140, up from a low of 100 when shortages were at their most severe.
“I have 75-80 per cent availability on iceberg now,” he said. “There are shoots of recovery but it really depends on the weather. It was 20 degrees in Murcia over the weekend, which is great, but that could change.
“On iceberg we are seeing some signs of improvement. But other lines, such as specialty lettuce, like Sweet Gem or Little Gem, have been particularly difficult.”
Hedderly said he visited the stricken growing regions in early January and described the crop losses of many growers as “depressing”.
According to development manager at salad supplier Jepco Marketing, Richard Pett, baby leaf may recover more quickly due to its shorter growing cycle. “Wholehead has a 10-week growing cycle so they are still dealing with losses caused by bad weather in December,” he said.
Jepco product manager Adrian Britton added: “The situation is easing, but supply will be sticky for the next month.”
The company’s MD Tony Padoan said it was primarily down to the “brilliance” of his growers that the company has been able to fulfil orders and avoid importing from the US. “It has been their ability and agility that has seen us through what is a once in a lifetime supply situation. I’ve been in produce for 34 years and I’ve never seen anything on this scale, that has affected an area of this size,” he said.
Speaking about the delayed coverage in UK national media, Padoan said it “would have been nice to get the salad story out earlier”, as suppliers have been facing severe challenges since December.
Shortages made the national news once again this weekend after retailers began capping customer purchases of wholehead iceberg.
Hedderly said raising the price, or switching to other lines, are ways of avoiding gaps on shelves. “In a situation like this, as a retailer you want to slow demand, so you might put the price up. You can slow demand, or you can stop one line and put another product. Gaps are the worst thing. The last thing you want is a disappointed customer.”
Italian salad suppliers have been largely protected and have helped fill the gaps in some cases, Jepco said. And JW European director Jo Phillips said the company’s Italian production, grown under cover in the south of the country, has not been affected by the shortages.
