Food prices to rise after soggy summer

Licensees can expect a rise in the cost of fresh produce, following one of the worst summers on record. The yield of many crops will be smaller and Britain will need to import more from abroad to make up for the shortfall.

As well as destroying crops, the weather has also made it harder and more costly to harvest produce, which will be reflected in future prices.

Paul Willington, foodservice distributor 3663's buying controller for fresh and chilled produce, said: "The two big food categories where we're going to see a lack of availability and inflated prices are brassicas, which include many vegetables grown above ground, such as broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. The second category is salad crops. Lettuce, in particular has been badly affected."

Willington continued: "The potato crop is a wait-and-see situation. The early crop has been good, but it is the later crop that will affect pubs more, baking potatoes in particular may be damaged by potato blight because they spend longer in the ground."

Pub kitchens will not need to worry about price fluctuations in fresh and frozen pre-cut chips because they tend to be imported from Holland.

James Rogers, chef/licensee of the Grundisburgh Dog, Grundisburgh, Suffolk, said: "We have taken broccoli off the menu for the past couple of months. It isn't grown much in Suffolk and although I like to buy local, broccoli is the one thing we have to get from up north. But Hull was badly flooded and prices rocketed from £3.20/kg to £5.40/kg."

Justin Stevens, licensee at Five Degrees West, in Falmouth, Cornwall, said: "We get most of our food from local suppliers. The strawberry crop has been very badly hit by the weather. We've been warned by our suppliers that prices on some things will go up in the coming months."