British stores suffer from a shortage of some types of fruits and vegetables and impose restrictions on their customers. What is the relationship with Morocco?

LONDON: Some UK supermarkets have restricted shoppers' purchases of certain fruits and vegetables due to "supply challenges" caused by weather conditions in southern Europe and North Africa, industry representatives said.

The Kingdom was suffering from a shortage of tomatoes only, but the shortage affected other types of fruits and vegetables, which prompted retailers to impose restrictions on sales.

This step came after farmers and suppliers in Morocco reported difficult conditions, from low temperatures to heavy rains and floods, in recent weeks that affected the volume of production.

Bad weather, which also affected farmers in southern Spain, led to the cancellation of ferry services, exacerbating supply problems.

"Challenging weather conditions in southern Europe and North Africa have disrupted the harvest of some fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes and bell peppers," Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium said in a statement.

"The disruption is expected to last for a few weeks, but stores are able to manage supply chain issues and work with farmers to ensure customers have access to a wide range of fresh produce," he added.

A spokesman for "Asda", one of the supermarket groups in Britain, referred to "challenges from the source in obtaining some products" grown in the region.

"We've placed a temporary limit of three per product for a very small number of fruits and vegetables so customers can get the products they're looking for," he added.

This procedure includes tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and berries.

For its part, Morrisons supermarket chain said it would allow each customer to buy only two tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and bell peppers, starting Wednesday.(AFP)