Tomato shortage in Ireland to last until summer, growers warn

There is likely to be a tomato shortage in Ireland until May at the earliest because of the cost of energy, says a leading grower.

Martin Flynn, who grows three hectares of tomatoes in greenhouses at his farm in Swords, Co Dublin, said problems with shortages because of bad weather in Spain and Morocco will be compounded in Ireland because growers cannot afford to heat their greenhouses.

Unseasonably cold weather in southern Spain and northern Morocco has caused problems with the supply not only of tomatoes but also peppers and cucumbers across Europe. The problem is most acute in the UK and is compounded by Brexit.

Mr Flynn said many Irish growers start growing their tomato plants in January with a growing period of between 16 and 17 weeks. Natural gas is needed to heat the greenhouses until the early summer, but the cost of it means that many Irish growers are now waiting until this month or next month to start the growing process.

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[ ‘Every day is a horror story’: Tomato producers battling with rising energy prices ]

The cost of gas is now four times the long-term average for tomato growers, he states, and energy is typically 30 per cent of the cost of producing plants.

Mr Flynn, who is also the vice-chairman of the Irish Farmers’ Association field vegetable and protected crops committee, said current shortages of many horticulture food crops are a direct result of soaring input costs and of the imbalance of power in the food supply chain.

The industry is calling on the Government to urgently reinstate the Horticultural Exceptional Payment Scheme (HEPS) which provided one-off payments last year of €2.8 million for horticultural growers to subsidise the cost of energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Flynn believes the shortages on Irish shelves demonstrated that Ireland has become too dependent on foreign imports. He said Irish buyers could extend the season with Government support. “We can produce tomatoes sustainably from March until November and produce them more sustainably.

“We are tired of hearing from Government that more Irish produce is required when we simply cannot afford to expand the shoulders of our season. It’s clear from the current shortages of vegetables from Spain and Holland that retailers cannot rely on imported produce. The first step that retailers must undertake is to listen to their grower suppliers of Irish produce.”

He stated that the process of producing tomatoes in an Irish environment under glass with natural gas is environmentally friendly because the plants absorb the carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

“We are not putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we are putting it into the glasshouse and the plants absorb that. We are carbon neutral.”

There is also a shortage of cucumbers and peppers. Ireland’s only commercial pepper producer is not producing this year because of soaring costs, Mr Flynn said.

Matt Wallace, the managing director of Wexford Tomatoes, said many Dutch growers are struggling with nursery plants because of the costs and this is having a knock on effect.

“We were purchasing plants from a big grower in the Netherland and about two weeks before we placed our order this week, we got notice that they had closed down because of gas prices,” he said.

“A lot of Dutch growers use artificial lighting on crops which means they are producing things over the winter months.

“Most of the growers decided not to plant for the winter months and this is a void in the market at present.”

He anticipates that a lot of smaller growers will not plant this year because of the costs involved and also the difficulties in getting labour.