It is a case of filling the gaps with fruit from other sources and Israel, Morocco and Egypt are stepping into the breach on strawberries. The Canary Islands is plugging a hole left by mainland producers of cucumber and tomatoes and a trickle of early season glasshouse production in northern Europe is also helping out.
Ian Dennis of salads specialist Das International is bringing in Californian iceberg to keep programme commitments on lettuce. "It has been extremely difficult and all salad produce has either been slowed or stopped altogether." This is reflected in prices with Spanish iceberg commanding 20-25p more a head than this time last season and the price of Californian product effectively doubling last year's Spanish price.
The British Tomato Growers’ Association points out the value in having security of supply. “Here in the UK our crops are grown under glass and so are more secure than those grown under tunnels,” said TGA consultant Gerry Hayman. “The polytunnels in southern Europe are more subject to weather conditions, for example when the summer was too hot for the crops in 2003 and now it is too cold.”
Growers in Spain are now seeking regional and national government aid, credit facilities and tax breaks to offset the effects of the big freeze.
Meanwhile, Canary Islands tomatoes are getting an added boost with an in-store promotion Invite the Canaries to You Place… And You Might Get Invited Back. The promotion consists of a competition to win a family holiday through filling in a form in punnets of tomatoes on sale in the major multiples.
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