Shoppers face higher prices for fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from as early as next month, The i Paper has been told.
Gaps could also emerge in supermarkets’ fresh produce aisles during the spring, Britons have been warned, as UK growers struggle to cope with surging energy prices.
Wider supermarket price hikes are expected to hit from the summer, as food producers and distributors pass on their soaring fertiliser and fuel costs.
The price of meat products like beef, lamb, bacon and sausages could all increase within months as a result of the energy crisis sparked by the Iran war.
Food inflation in the UK could reach five per cent by the autumn and hit nine per cent by the end of 2026, leading trade bodies have warned.
Fruit and veg prices could go up in ‘four to eight weeks’
Lee Stiles, the secretary of the Lea Valley Growers’ Association, said fruit and veg growers reliant on glasshouses were particularly badly hit by energy price rises.
He said some growers may decide within weeks to cut short the current growing season and “cut their losses” because of rising energy bills.
Shoppers could see price rises and shortages for the UK’s four main growing crops – tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines – in the next four to eight weeks, said Stiles.
“The shortages we saw last time [in 2023] – we saw European growers sell their produce in Europe because it’s easier. So if UK growers have to stop, we could see empty shelves again,” he added.
Some UK veg growers may cut season short over soaring energy costs (Photo: Westend61/Getty)He said growers “can’t continue” on prices paid to them by supermarkets, but it would be up to retailers how much to put up prices. “Supermarkets will increase retail prices if they don’t want to reduce their own margins.”
The British Tomato Growers Association (BTGA) also previously warned that we could see a rise in the price of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers around the start of May.
Growers have been hit with a 60 to 80 per cent increase in electricity standing charges from 1 April. It will force some to hike prices, the BTGA has warned – even before the impacts of the Iran war are fully felt.
Extra energy costs will hit shoppers’ pockets, says meat industry
Nick Allen, of the British Meat Processors Association, said abattoirs, manufacturers and distributors are all facing extra diesel transportation costs as well as higher energy bills.
Allen expects the prices of meat to go up – but not until the summer, mainly because price contracts between processors and supermarkets tend to be in place for three to six months.
“All increased costs end up, sooner or later, hitting the consumer in the pocket,” Allen told The i Paper. “When it comes to beef, lamb, pork – it will permeate through in increased prices for consumers.”
The British Poultry Council said chicken producers were facing higher gas, fertiliser and feed costs. Some costs may be absorbed, but “others will inevitably have to be passed on to consumers,” the trade body said.
Farmers’ harvest under threat from diesel shortages
The National Farmers Union also warned of food price inflation. Farmers are under “immense pressure” from increased costs of red diesel and fertiliser, as well as rising gas and electricity prices, the body said.
Richard Heady, an arable, beef and sheep farmer in Buckinghamshire, said he had enough diesel stored for the growing season ahead. But he is worried about getting diesel for the harvest.
“It’s going to be very expensive. Or, if we can’t get hold of any, then the grain will be left in the field, unharvested.”
Heady wants the Government to prioritise farmers for diesel if there are severe shortages of the fuel in the months ahead. “Agriculture is a top priority, along with emergency services.”
Food inflation could hit 9 per cent by the end of this year
The Cold Chain Federation (CCF) – which acts on behalf of food distributors and storage companies – said everyone in the supply chain was facing higher fuel costs for refrigerated haulage and shipping.
Phil Pluck, the CCF chief executive, said prices could start rising over the summer, predicting that food inflation could reach 5 per cent by the autumn.
Pluck also expects a 10 to 15 per cent price increase of some fruit and veg imports from as early as May.“It’s inevitable that price increases will make their way to the supermarket shelves. It could push more people into food poverty and into using food banks,” Pluck said.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents manufacturers, is now predicting that food inflation will hit at least nine per cent by the end of 2026.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who met with supermarket chiefs to discuss cost and supply chain issues, told BBC Breakfast that the Government is “preparing for all eventualities”.
But Reeves warned that she could not alleviate “every price increase” faced by families in the months ahead. She suggested a package of support for energy bills would not come until the autumn.
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