Sprout shortage as snow ruins Christmas crop

According to farmers, there is a strong chance that brussels sprouts will run short in supermarkets over the next couple of days. Snow and freezing temperatures have meant the harvest has had to abandoned in parts of Norfolk, Lincolnshire and much of the south east of England – the main growing area for sprouts.

For many that could mean Christmas lunch with turkey and all the trimmings – but no sprouts.

Phillip Effingham, chairman of the British Brassica Growers' Association, said: "The last time we had snow like this in the week running up to Christmas was in the mid-1980s.

"We've ground to a halt in Lincolnshire. It's been impossible to get any mechanical picking done. I think there over the next few days shoppers will notice a real shortage of loose sprouts."

Farmers explained that if sprouts were picked when they were frozen they had a very short shelf life. John Knox at R&K Drysdale, in Berwickshire, Scotland, said: "They just turn to mush very quickly once they thaw. We've been OK in Scotland, but the snow down the east coast has made it horrendous for many growers."

About 60 per cent of the brussels sprouts consumed in Britain are harvested in the couple of weeks before Christmas, with Tesco estimating it will sell 77 million this week, so the snow could not have come at a worse time.

TJ Clements, one of the country's biggest sprout growers, said the cost of the snow was "devastating". It predicted it would complete about 90 per cent of its harvest but only by drafting in hundreds of extra workers.

Chris Gedney, the managing director and one of Tesco's main suppliers, said: "The cost of harvesting will be up almost 100 per cent on last year. Prices in supermarkets have been set already."