Crop Report

While this week has seen some improvement in the quality of mushrooms, it remains very challenging for growers. Overall yields are down, with catering mushrooms continuing to be the greatest concern.

The current situation was initially caused by a period of high temperatures across Poland and Ireland. As suppliers try to catch up, they are delaying picking for long as possible in order to meet orders. However, the delay means that temperatures are not getting low enough and mould is developing as a result. This is generally not seen in the packhouse, but becomes apparent later, causing rejections.

We are continuing to work with our three suppliers of catering mushrooms to try to maximise availability.

Concessions remain in place to support availability of both red and white cabbage, which are suffering from reduced volumes, with the earlier lack of water and heat affecting the main growing period and leading to a reduction in yield. 

There are also some continuing quality issues, caused by insect damage and edema which means that more leaves need to be cleared away to reach acceptable quality, reducing head weight and yields. 

There is also a weight concession in place for savoy cabbage, which is struggling to make its standard weight due to the growing conditions. 

Spring greens also have a concession in place for hearting of the centre, with limited dark outer leaves.

Availability of lemons is becoming more difficult as we come to the end of the Southern Hemisphere season. This has been caused by poor weather conditions and flooding in the early part of the season.

Currently, there are no availability problems, but the market is short and it is expected to become even more difficult in the coming weeks with significant concessions expected to be required to support supply.

However, at this time there is only one concession in place, which allows for a slightly smaller size for large lemons, and we are managing the situation well. 

While we will be transitioning to Spain in November, we are expecting a poor harvest from that region, with growers reporting much lower yields. This is likely to lead to season-long problems.

Availability has improved significantly following the issues that reduced supply over the summer. 

The main challenge now is with pests, which are being found in large quantities on farms. We are working closely with growers and undertaking additional steps to try to minimise the impact on customers. 

There are some end of season challenges with all berries. British blueberries finished more abruptly than anticipated, while we are still awaiting the first produce from the Peruvian harvest, but this should improve shortly.

Strawberries are also seeing some issues with availability, and we have concessions in place to try to support supply, including for size, as well as non-standard packaging for imported product, which is being used to supplement British produce.

There have been some quality issues with onions, particularly with red varieties, where they are breaking down, but are being rejected at depot level. In order to address the problem, we have moved to the main season drilled crop, which will minimise the issues. While brown onions have been less affected, we have moved to new stores in order to improve quality.

We expect the new season for Spanish Leafy Clementines to start in mid-October, with first arrivals of this popular seasonal product currently scheduled for 20 October. Once the produce arrives, we expect the season to run through to approximately March 2026.

After the recent challenges, supply of cauliflower is good, with no current availability issues. However, in common with other crops, pests continue to be an issue, and there is still a concession in place for insects, which are more prolific following the long and hot summer. 

Nectarines have now finished for the season. We expect peaches to finish by the end of the week. Once current stocks have been exhausted, it will be next summer before these seasonal lines are available again.