Crop Report

Broccoli quality has been more variable over the past week, but this has been managed through our normal quality checks with no impact to customer supply. We continue to work closely with suppliers and will keep monitoring arrivals to maintain standards.

Red cabbage remains very limited as we move towards the end of the stored crop season. Existing concessions are helping to support availability, although supply is expected to remain challenging over the coming weeks.

El Niño conditions are now present in the tropical Pacific and are expected to strengthen through the second half of the year. Peru is a key avocado source at this time of year, and warmer, more unsettled conditions can increase the risk of rainfall, humidity and crop stress in some growing regions.

This has contributed to some quality concerns and short-term availability pressure. While we are not expecting further shortages in the short term, quality challenges mean there may be variability in the coming days.

We will continue to monitor weather developments and inbound 
quality closely.

Peru is currently experiencing El Niño conditions, a natural climate pattern linked to warmer-than-average sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific. These warmer conditions can affect asparagus growing patterns, with potential pressure on spear size, yield, quality and overall availability. 

A few sea-freighted arrivals have shown quality issues, so we are using air freight where needed to reduce transit time and help protect product condition and maintain supply. However, availability across the market is expected to remain challenging for the foreseeable future. 

Europe is currently experiencing a sustained period of very high temperatures. Although growers are accustomed to managing extreme heat, the current conditions are being compounded by low humidity. This is causing crops to lose moisture more quickly, depleting water reserves in both the plants and surrounding soil.

As a result, cucumber quality and availability have been affected, with younger plants particularly exposed. The impact may continue to be felt over the next three to four weeks. While the crop recovers, we are working closely with suppliers to minimise disruption and maintain customer supply wherever possible, which may, at some stage, require size concessions.

As we are at the end of the season and the start of the new one, quality is variable. We are working with suppliers to try to minimise the impact on customers. Similar issues are affecting prepped carrots, so we have introduced imported product to try to maintain consistency.

Colombian passion fruit volumes remain limited, which is continuing to put pressure on availability.  To help protect supply, we expect to rely on air-freighted stock over the next few weeks.