London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Apples and pears could be next UK food shortage, farmers warn

Apples and pears could be next UK food shortage, farmers warn

Growers say they do not get paid enough by supermarkets, as supply of leeks also comes under threat

Apples and pears could be the next food shortage in the UK, after it emerged that British growers are planting just a third of the number of trees needed to maintain orchards, saying their returns from selling to supermarkets are unsustainable.

Ali Capper, head of the British Apples & Pears trade association which represents about 80% of the industry in the UK, said 1m new trees would have to be planted each year to maintain the UK’s 5,500 hectares (13,590 acres) of production.

This year farmers had planned to order just 480,000 apple and pear trees but that has been slashed to 330,000. Capper said the key reason for the lack of investment was “supermarket returns that are unsustainable”.

She said fruit growers’ costs had increased by about 23% as the cost of picking, energy, haulage and packaging had risen but that was being met by a less than 1% increase in returns. “The majority of growers are losing money.”

Some are planning to quit the industry and others have effectively mothballed their orchards or are grubbing them up as the returns dwindle. “This is a very serious situation,” said Capper. “The future of apple and pear growing in the UK is seriously in doubt.”

Britain is already facing shortages of multiple fresh food items, prompting Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons this week to limit purchases of certain lines including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

The shortages have been triggered by cold weather in Spain and North Africa hitting crops there and by big cutbacks by British and Dutch growers, who plant salads under glass at this time of year, as growers say supermarkets were not prepared to cover the increased cost of heating.

Leeks, parsnips and swedes. Growers are warning of a leek shortage by March.


Some importers say Brexit has also meant the UK is at the back of the queue behind the EU when competing to buy scarce fresh produce, because of the increased costs and bureaucracy associated with shipments over the channel.

It comes as nearly a fifth (18%) of UK adults said they had experienced shortages of essential food items in the past two weeks, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from 13% a year ago, as food importers say Britain’s exit from the EU continues to mean higher costs and potential holdups because of extra bureaucracy.

Thérèse Coffey, the environment minister, said on Thursday she expected the shortages of some fresh food items to last for up to a month, but some British growers say the shortages could last until May.

Coffey suggested in the same session in parliament that British households might “cherish” British turnips instead of unseasonal crops from abroad. By Friday morning, however, Tesco’s website had sold out of turnips, offering shoppers the option of a swede instead.

British field crops including leeks, carrots and kale have also been affected by frosts before Christmas that reduced harvests this year as farmers struggle with rising costs and volatile weather partly caused by climate change.

Tim Casey, the chairman of the Leek Growers’ Association, said that British leeks might be difficult to find for St David’s Day this year. “Leek farmers are facing their most difficult season ever due to the challenging weather conditions,” he said.

“Our members are seeing yields down by between 15% and 30%. We are predicting that the supply of homegrown leeks will be exhausted by April, with no British leeks available in the shops during May and June, with consumers having to rely on imported crops.”

Clive Baxter, whose family has been growing apples for 80 years in Kent, said he planned to hand back 24 hectares (60 acres) of apples, pears, cherries and plums on leasehold land to his landlord next year – meaning the trees were likely to be grubbed up – and was leaving another 3.6 hectares (nine acres) of his own orchards to go fallow.

“We haven’t seen quite such dramatic change to the fruit industry in this country since the 1987 hurricane when a huge amount of fruit came out of the ground because of the damage from the storm,” he said.

An apple farm in Kent. Growers say they plan to plant just 330,000 new trees this year rather than the 1m needed to maintain production.


Baxter has diversified into vineyards as the price is more protected as supermarkets are offering him less money for his apples and pears while costs have risen, largely thanks to soaring fertiliser, energy and labour costs after. Brexit which slowed the flow of workers from Europe. “We are already losing money,” he said.

Nearby farmer Richard Budd at Stevens Farm in Hawkhurst told the BBC’s South East news programme that he is taking out 20 hectares (50 acres) of orchards.

Another farmer told the British Growers Association survey of British Apples & Pears growers: “We have decided to quit apple growing in two years’ time after 40 years of growing fruit.”

Capper said if fruit trees disappeared it would not only put food security at risk but affect biodiversity which had been fostered in many orchards.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×