Might leaving the EU make it harder for British people to follow a healthy diet?
A Dutch bank is arguing that Brexit could push up fruit and vegetable prices for UK shoppers.
According to research published by Rabobank and cited by Bloomberg, costs for fresh fruit and vegetables could rise by between 5 and 8 per cent as a result of increased border controls with the European Union after Brexit.
“Irrespective of the various trade scenarios that could arise after Brexit, domestic prices in the UK would go up for most fruits and vegetables as the UK has no alternative than to source these products from the EU,” Harry Smit, a senior analyst at Rabobank in the Netherlands, told Bloomberg.
“Domestic production cannot fill the gap.”
The UK is a net importer of fruit and vegetables meaning that higher costs at the border will translate directly into a higher price tag for British shoppers, according to Mr Smit.
Bloomberg said that the EU provided 71 per cent of Britain’s food and agriculture imports in 2016. The largest category was animal protein, followed by fruit, vegetables and flowers, and consumer foods.
Higher costs “would result in consumers reducing demand which would balance the price rise a little bit," Mr Smit was quoted as saying. "But overall I would expect prices to go up by same degree as cost of imports.”
Healthy-eating Brits were already dealt a blow this year when poor harvests in parts of Southern Europe led to higher prices for vegetables. Some supermarkets even implemented temporary quotas on things like lettuces and broccoli as a result of a supply shortage.
