Shortages of some fresh fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers Union has said. The NFU’s deputy president, Tom Bradshaw, said a reliance on imports had left the UK particularly exposed to “shock weather events” (The Guardian).

Shortages of some fruit and vegetables will last for three to four weeks, a former environment secretary has said. George Eustice also insisted there was “nothing much” the government could have done to prevent empty shelves in supermarkets (BBC).

Uganda is “ready to fill the gaps on UK supermarket shelves”, export chiefs have said, as ministers come under pressure to ward off further tomato chaos (Telegraph £).

The Sunday Times looks at seven reasons why our supermarket shelves are bare – from weather in Morocco and Spain to the UK’s cheap prices and Brexit (The Times £). The Telegraph also looks at why UK supermarkets are rationing fruit and vegetables, after Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons all face weeks of shortages as they limit purchases (Telegraph £).

Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer goods giant behind some of the UK’s best-known brands – from Finish dishwasher tablets to Dettol disinfectant – has been accused of ‘deliberate profiteering’ after hiking some of its prices by more than a third (Daily Mail).

Suppliers for retailers have increased prices by more than double the rate of inflation. Some have requested up to 30% more despite their own costs having risen by just 15%, according to business management consultant Inverto (Daily Mail).

Waitrose is to part ways with Heston Blumenthal after a 12-year venture with the celebrity chef. Products in the Heston from Waitrose range are set to disappear from shelves in coming months as Waitrose focuses on its own in-house creations (The Times £).

The UK’s biggest retailers will next week warn Rishi Sunak that the government’s waste strategy risks forcing prices up for consumers even as continued inflationary pressures exacerbate the cost of living crisis (Sky News).

Activist investor Nelson Peltz, chief executive and founding partner of hedge fund Trian Fund Management, began building a stake in Unilever in January last year and was granted a board seat in May. The share price has ticked up by around 8% since Peltz first invested and he recently banked some gains, selling around 1.67 million shares, or around £71m worth, on February 15 (Financial Times £).

New Aldi Locals are emblematic of a new battleground for the fight between Britain’s supermarkets and the German discounters. After opening a string of larger locations to compete with homegrown megastores, Aldi and Lidl are now coming for the corner shop (Telegraph £).

The price of pasta has nearly doubled in two years, new research for the BBC suggests. A standard 500g bag of pasta was 50p two years ago – now it’s 95p (BBC).

Fairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate was once the mainstay of church hall fetes and upmarket delis but is now popping up in supermarket value ranges as the demand for affordable and sustainable groceries goes mainstream (The Guardian).

Pets at Home has been identified by Canaccord Genuity as a top stock target. The retailer performed well during the pandemic as families bought pets to keep them company in lockdown, but its vet services have helped to ensure it can continue to benefit. Pandemic winners generally gained based on a one-off event, but Pets at Home has built a base of repeat customers (The Times £).

Scotland’s whisky and beer makers alarmed by mooted advertising ban. Drinks sector faces similar restrictions as tobacco under proposals designed to tackle country’s alcohol-related problems (Financial Times £).

Marks & Spencer has hired Cheryl Potter as a non-executive director, an appointment that will give its boardroom a female majority for the first time in the retailer’s 140-year history (The Times £).

Beyond Meat was hoping to entice carbon-conscious carnivores with the first option, creating a massive new market in the process. That has spectacularly failed to occur. As a result, even after Friday’s bump in the stock on the back of better than feared fourth-quarter results, the fake-steak provider is trading some 90% below 2019 highs (Financial Times £).

Babycham is back in the ownership of the family that invented it in the 1950s, with production returned to its old headquarters amid plans to give the sparkling perry a new lease of life among the sort of younger audience that has embraced cider in recent years (The Guardian).

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