Rising energy costs and long-term price pressures on UK farmers most likely to be seen as causes for fruit and vegetables shortages

• Around 3 in 4 say rising energy costs and long-term price pressures on UK farmers contribute a fair amount or great deal to the current food shortages in the UK.
• Other contributors include climate change/weather challenges in countries from where food is imported as well as agricultural labour shortages.
• Two-thirds say it has been more difficult to find fresh fruit and vegetables in their local supermarket now compared to 6 months ago

As fruit and vegetable shelves go empty in supermarkets across the UK, new research by Ipsos shows rising energy costs and long-term price pressures on UK farmers are most likely to be seen as key contributors to the shortages with 76% and 73% saying each respectively has contributed a great deal or fair amount. Other key contributors, according to people in the UK, include climate change/weather challenges in countries from which food is imported (65%), agricultural labour shortages (61%) and Britain leaving the EU (58%).

Just over half say climate change/weather challenges in the UK have contributed a great deal or fair amount (54%) while around half believe the Russian invasion of Ukraine (49%), the repurposing of arable land for other uses in the UK (47%) or haulier labour shortages (46%) have played their parts in causing the shortages. Around 4 in 10 say the shortages have been caused by the lack of willingness from farmers to grow fruits and/or vegetables (42%).

People are least likely to say the Covid-19 pandemic (29%) or supermarket labour shortages (33%) have made a contribution to the food shortages we are currently witnessing.

We see a majority of people in the UK have been affected by the issue with two-thirds (66%) saying they are finding it harder now, in comparison to 6 months ago, to find fresh fruits and vegetables in their local supermarkets. Only 8% say they are finding it less difficult while almost a quarter say there has been no change (23%).

Samira Brophy, Research Director at Ipsos, said:

Here we see many have been affected by the recent food shortages in supermarkets, with two in three saying they have found it more difficult to find fresh fruit and vegetables in their local store. Most recognise the current food shortages as being caused by long term price pressures on UK farming, alongside the current issue of energy prices. This suggests the public are tuned into the history surrounding the current shortages, alongside more immediate challenges. We have seen in our Ipsos Global Trends 2023 data, that major challenges facing people give businesses and institutions a clear mandate to offer plans and solutions. However only 40% of people surveyed in Great Britain believed that businesses are good at planning for the long term. This highlights a big opportunity for government and businesses to win over the public with transparency and demonstrating action in tackling structural change.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,030 adults aged 18-75 in the United Kingdom. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus 28th February – 2nd March 2023. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.