Vegetable prices soar by 400% as sellers try to cash in on eBay with lettuces selling for up to £500
GREEDY traders have hiked up veg prices by 400 per cent because of the Spanish supply shortage – as cheeky eBay users try to cash in by flogging lettuce for up to £500.
Supermarkets across the country have been rationing the sale of broccoli, courgettes, aubergines, lettuces and other vegetables and salad items.
Retail giants are now sourcing hundreds of tons of lettuce grown in the US to fill shelves after extreme weather conditions devastated crops in the Mediterranean
Market traders are cashing in on the shortage by hiking up their veg prices.
Some are charging almost five times the going rate for vegetables, with the price for a kilo of broccoli a hefty £5 — compared with £1.13 per kilo in Tesco.
Courgettes, £1.89 per kilo in Tesco, were going for £6 a kilo in Borough Market, in South-East London.
And it isn't just traders hoping to cash in on the veg crisis – cheeky eBay users are trying to make some extra money by flogging lettuce for up to £500.
One seller, ruth-1964, is auctioning off a "BRAND NEW" Morrisons iceberg lettuce for £10.50 and has already received two bids.
She wrote: "In this time of lettuce shortage, grab yourself a bargain."
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While jacob-stuar is hoping to make £500 from his iceberg lettuce – but has limited customers to a maximum of three "due to shortage".
His tongue-in-cheek description says: "NEW UNUSED / NOT EVEN NIBBLED A LITTLE BIT….
"Iceburg Lettuce [SIC]. Comes in green only at the moment but more colours planned for the future.
"Note: Due to the weather problems in Spain we have to limit this offer to x3 items per purchase. We hope you understand. If you need more than x3 then maybe you could log in and purchase them through another account".
Another seller, cufc70, has put his "highly sought after" lettuce under the hammer for £50.
They said: "Very rare. Rarer than an original Piers Morgan brain cell.
"From a pet and smoke free home.
"Never worn.
"Would suit someone who likes BLT sandwiches or as an accompaniment to tomatoes (not included).
"For a real vintage hipster vibe add some prawns and Marie Rose sauce, consume while listening to difficult jazz. Nice."
Shoppers have been told they have to buy veg in limited numbers, with Tesco putting up notices in its aisles restricting customers to three iceberg lettuces each due to “continued weather problems in Spain”.
A few stores have sold out while some online sites have blocked customers from buying them altogether.
But in Spain, supermarkets appeared to have no shortage of iceberg lettuces.
The UK shortage has been worsened by restaurants, shops and wholesalers bulk-buying lettuces from stores.
Spanish exporters have warned Europeans that vegetables will be in short supply until at least early April.
A combination of flooding, cold weather and even poor light levels has cut harvests by an estimated 60 per cent with production wiped out in the Mediterranean.
Spain usually ships more than 100,000 tons of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers to Europe every month.
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