Crop Report

It is increasingly likely that the Southern Hemisphere lemon season will be coming to an early end, as weather conditions from earlier in the season take their toll. 

The flooding that growers experienced in South Africa in May and June caused damage and significant loss of fruit, and we are currently forecasting that the season could end around three weeks early.

We are not anticipating any immediate problems, but we do expect supply to become much more challenging from around mid-September. It is therefore likely that concessions will be required to help support availability until the arrival of the Spanish season. While it seems likely that most lines will be impacted to a greater or lesser extent, it is currently thought that large lemons will face the greatest challenge.

After the challenges of the past few years, we are expecting an improvement in the availability of new season potatoes.  This is largely due to lower demand in the hot weather allowing growers to maintain stored crops through August, something which has not been possible for the past couple of years.

Quality and availability currently look positive, although there are some concerns over the recent dry weather and the impact that this could have on the harvest.  

British growers continue to struggle with the aftereffects of July’s heatwave. The crop is taking time to recover, although some areas of the country are improving more quickly than others. 

While we are currently managing limited stocks well, the market is very short of product and will remain so in the short to medium term. Due to this difficult outlook, and in order to maintain supply, we are currently importing some product to support British growers. We expect this to continue throughout August. 

As we have previously reported, fine beans could be a potential alternative option for some customers while the crop recovers.

Market supply of broccoli, which has been affected by heat-related problems such as pheasant eye (a discolouration of the buds caused by uneven development) and hollow stems, continues to be tight. 

We have managed supply well to date, but it is extremely challenging, and we have a close watching brief on the crop.

Availability across the market is extremely tight as the warmer weather has brought the crop forward creating gaps between fields. This has been exacerbated by lower quality product with concessions in place for weight. 

We are working with suppliers to minimise the problems and have also sourced additional volumes from Poland to help ease the situation. However, the next couple of weeks will be extremely challenging and availability is likely to be an issue over that period.

There are market-wide challenges for washed rocket as the heat and dry spring have taken their toll on the crop. As a result of the poor quality, there have been rejections for a variety of reasons including pests, discoloured leaves and mildew. 

We are working with suppliers and have identified additional stocks both from the UK and Italy, but, in the short-term, there are likely to be some availability issues, even with the concessions we have in place.

These popular seasonal lines are likely to finish at the end of August. While the season has been successful, the extremely hot weather in Italy and Spain is bringing it to an early close.

We are keeping a close eye on the quality and availability of stored red cabbage, as it is lower than expected. While the new season has started and is helping to support supply, it is likely to be mid to end of August before we are fully transitioned.

We are now receiving new season Egyptian sweet potatoes, which is helping to alleviate some of the problems that we’ve been facing.

However, because it is early in the season, tubers are small, and concessions will remain in place until at least mid-August to help maintain supply until the new season is fully underway.