Fresh out, greens in short supply

ACROSS Scotland, supermarkets began rationing vegetables while others sold out as news of the shortages filtered through.

In Glasgow, Morrisons stores placed signs in branches limiting items such as broccoli to three per customer and other lines including tomatoes, spinach, courgettes and aubergines were also in short supply.

One staff member at the firm’s Newlands store said it was the first time in two weeks iceberg lettuce had appeared on shelves.

Stocks were short at Asda in Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, which ran out of baby cauliflower and aubergines.

Whole Foods Market in nearby Giffnock had no iceberg lettuce, baby gem lettuce, cucumber or spring onions.

At Tesco Extra in Glasgow’s Springburn area, signs beside empty crates informed customers certain produce was ‘temporarily out of stock’, including romaine lettuce hearts, loose aubergines, courgettes and baby turnips.

Signs at the nearby Lidl store warned shoppers of shortages of broccoli and courgettes. In Aberdeen, shelves at the Co-op’s Rosemount store were empty of baby plum tomatoes, courgettes and tenderstem broccoli, while cherry tomato stocks were low.

Blueberries were in short supply and bags of baby spinach, courgettes or broccoli had sold out in the Morrisons city centre store. A note said customers would be limited to two packs of iceberg lettuce but had since sold out.

Sainsbury’s Aberdeen Garthdee store still had icebergs from the US on display although the supermarket was running low on tomatoes. Across the road at Asda, stocks of chilli were low and packs of aubergines and asparagus had run out.

In Lanarkshire, Tesco’s Uddingston branch and nearby Sainsbury’s in Hamilton had both run out of icebergs. Morrisons in Hamilton had a notice covering empty shelves telling shoppers flooding in Spain had affected stocks and availability of some items.

However, budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl had plentiful supplies in their stores across the area.

An M&S store in Uddingston also appeared unaffected, with healthily stocked shelves.

In Edinburgh, Sainsbury’s in Meadowbank had ample stocks of broccoli, lettuce, courgettes and tomatoes, but the store had run out of aubergines. The Broughton Road Tesco had scarcely any courgettes and no aubergines or loose tomatoes, while iceberg lettuces were limited to three per person.

Morrisons on Ferry Road, Edinburgh, was also very low on Spanish-grown vegetables with just two packs of iceberg lettuce and no aubergines remaining by yesterday afternoon. The last courgette was sold soon after midday.