The cost of French salad is set to rise by more than 25 per cent due to cold weather in the country’s main pro- duction region, European fresh produce association Freshfel pre- dicted this week.
- The frost has caused lettuce to disintegrate in parts of Europe
even further as we’re going to have bad weather until at least the end of this week.”
Sandy Sewell, commercial director at Florette, said sourcing from Provence has not been as easy as previous seasons, but the ability to call upon a diversified supply chain that spans France, Spain, Italy, North Africa and beyond, has left the business “well equipped to withstand any challenges”.
Conditions are also affecting production in Spain, with lettuce growers fearing for the worst as night- time frosts in the first few days of February have frozen produce in the field. Lettuce crops in the regions of Murcia, Alicante and Almería have suffered serious losses.
President of the grower exporters’ organisation Proexport’s iceberg lettuce division, Javier Soto, said: “Over the last three weeks, we have seen produce coming on early due to the unseasonably warm winter temperatures. Since their sharp fall and the frosts that are forecast for the next few weeks, we are going to have a gap in output, which will affect availability.”
Weather reports for south-eastern Spain forecast temperatures will go lower still to below zero in Medi- terranean coastal parts of Spain. Iñaqui Soriano, com- mercial director at Teresa Hermanos, said: “These low temperatures are halting plant development in lettuce crops and even causing them to disintegrate because of the cold.”
The significant loss of availability could mean increased prices for Spanish salad in the UK.
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