Wet UK summer hits vegetable crops, prices rise

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) Waterlogged fields in Britain are fuelling a rise in vegetable prices that is already feeding through to restaurants, adding to worries over food inflation, industry officials said today.

Some commodities like wheat are rising on a global scale. Tight world stocks and drought in countries like Ukraine have propelled international prices to their highest for a decade, putting pressure on bread makers to raise prices.

And the very wet start to summer in Britain has left vegetable crops in poor shape. Potatoes and peas are seen as among the worst hit crops and other vegetables such as cabbages, broccoli and sprouts could be in short supply soon.

''After a five year period where we had flat prices, we've seen prices rising over the last six months,'' said Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, the restaurant trade association.

He cited a combination of factors, including high world markets for some products, flooding across parts of Britain and higher energy costs that were starting to affect food prices, and vegetables in particular.

''We're seeing prices up by 5-10 percent. Competition is fierce in the high street, so some of those increases you won't see. But a good example of where you will is in the fish and chip shop -- potatoes are up substantially, more than 10 per cent.'' Peas have been the other crop badly hit in Britain by flooding, with many fields lying submerged under water.

''The crop is very badly hit, it's a great concern. We have the biggest crop in Europe,'' said Martin Riggall, chief executive of the Processed Vegetable Growers Association (PVGA).

''Our estimate is that we'll have a crop of 70 to 75 per cent at best of a normal crop. We've got crops ready for harvest but farmers can't get into the fields.'' He said farmers feared a repeat of last year when a dry summer pushed retail prices up by almost 40 per cent but farmers on fixed price contracts did not benefit.

He said flooding had also prevented the planting of crops such as cabbages, broccoli and sprouts, which could lead to more price rises in a few months.

''These could be in short supply come the autumn,'' he said.

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