Soaring energy costs could create food shortages this winter. That’s what the Financial Times reveals in an article devoted to the consequences of rising energy costs for farmers and agri-businesses.
The effects of rising energy costs on greenhouse vegetable crops
According to the Financial Times business newspaper, soaring energy costs are having a considerable impact on greenhouse crops: « Crops that require intensive heating in cold climates, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, are most directly affected.Crops that require intensive heating in cold climates, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, are the most directly affected, » reads the article.
The article describes the situation in many parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands (which accounts for a fifth of the world’s tomato exports), where many greenhouses will have to give up their lighting.
The same applies to the largest tomato supplier in Sweden and Denmark, Alfred Pedersen & Son, which normally supplies supermarkets with 20,000 tonnes of tomatoes a year (around a quarter of which are produced in winter), and whose greenhouses will also have to shut down due to rising energy costs.
A worrying situation when you consider that greenhouse lighting is used to grow fruit and vegetables.
Soaring energy costs could lead to food shortages this winter
Rising energy costs aren’t the only thing holding back the growth of glasshouse fruit and vegetables. In fact, according to the Financial Times, some products (such as apples) also need to be refrigerated to extend their shelf life.
What’s more, « rising refrigeration, heating and transport costs have discouraged farmers from starting to plant » , explains the business newspaper. Not to mention the price of fertilizers and animal feed, which have also risen.
Ultimately, the entire European food supply chain is turned upside down.
Between this summer’s drought and current inflation, some farmers with fixed-price electricity contracts are even choosing to resell their electricity rather than use it for their crops.
Given this situation, it would not be surprising to see an increase in the price of cultivated products, as well as shortages.
According to Pekka Pesonen, General Secretary of Copa-Cogeca, a European farmers’ union, the situation is such that « it’ s something we’ve never seen before. And nobody saw it coming, and on such a scale » .