Newsletter – February

Welcome to the new CFF website and the first edition of the new newsletter. With the launch of the new website we are striving to extend our communication with our customers, helping you to manage the seasons, to keep you up to date with what is happening in the volatile world of fresh produce and to help you achieve your GP with monthly specials.

We are currently facing significant supply issues across a range of fresh items which are grown in regions of Southern Europe and North Africa.

This is due to extreme abnormal weather hitting these regions and bringing with it snow, frost, ice, heavy rain and subzero temperatures. The countries mainly   affected are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and southern France which are all major suppliers at this time of the year to the UK    of fresh salad items, fruits and vegetables.

The reduced levels of supply have had a significant impact on the cost of any available products, with some items increasing by 132% in cost overnight.

As a company we have strived to absorb the increasing costs of these products since early December and have been in constant negotiations with our direct suppliers to keep increased prices to a minimum but as the weather has yet to improve our suppliers have had to call a force majeure on a majority of contracted prices.

We do not anticipate that this situation will improve for at least 6-8 weeks as any crops that are currently suffering from inclement weather are likely to be unsalvageable when the temperatures return to normal.

Unfortunately this means that we have no option but to increase our prices on all items which are affected by this supply crisis. We are constantly in negotiations with our supplies to obtain the best prices we can and we are benchmarking them against other retailers also to ensure that we achieve the lowest prices every day.

It is not only cost which will be effected, some items may become completely unavailable or of very poor quality.

We will be offering alternatives where applicable on unavailable items to try and minimise disruption to you. If you do not want any alternative products please state so when ordering and they won’t be sent out to you.

If you have certain items on your menu which you know you require in advance please try and give us as much notice as possible so we can have the best chance to source them for you.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with our office advisors or your sales representative if you have any questions

Affected Products

• Aubergine
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Courgette
• All pepper varieties
• All lettuce varieties including babyleaf
• All tomato varieties
• Flat parsley
• Rocket

Although products coming from the continent are severely affected at the moment in the UK most crops are holding up well to say it is the middle of winter. To minimise the impact of the current situation try to look at products such as:

• Kale green / violet – We currently source all our kale from a local grower and the quality is currently superb and the price is very competitive.
• Cauliflower – We are currently sourcing cauliflower form Cornwall and so far supply is keeping up with demand, the quality is fantastic but average prices are up due to the added pressure due to the decimated broccoli crop.
• Savoy and spring cabbage – Both varieties are sourced from the uk at this time of year and both are in abundance
• Squash / Pumpkin – Although seen as traditionally unseasonal at this time of year we are still able to source some fantastic French ridge pumpkins and onion squash is still around at great prices, well worth a try if your menu is flexible
• Cavalo Nero – Currently sourced from the UK and I must say the quality is superb, sold in bunches which are a very good size.
• Yorkshire forced rhubarb – I know most of you will be using this currently but if you’re not it’s a must. Yorkshire forced rhubarb is bang in season at the moment and prices are very competitive.