Tesco defends selling asparagus from Mexico

Tesco has defended its decision to sell asparagus from Mexico when home-grown supplies of the vegetable are still widely available.

The retailer was responding to criticism from Farmers Weekly reader and Norfolk resident Mark Marsay who said he was “horrified” when he spotted asparagus sourced from Mexico on sale in his local Tesco store in Downham Market.

Mr Marsay emailed Tesco to express his disappointment, pointing out that asparagus is grown in abundance in Norfolk – and asking why the retailer had decided to buy and transport the crop from Mexico.

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“Surely the air miles can’t be cheap,” he said. “ Needless to say, I put it back and picked a UK grown bag, which was one out of the four boxes.”

Mr Marsay took photos in his local Tesco store of the Mexican asparagus, retailing at £1.70 per 180g packet, or £2.19 per 275g packet alongside British asparagus produced by the Chinn family, based in Herefordshire, retailing at £2 per 125g packet.

He accused Tesco of “letting down” British growers and asked the retailer to do more to support them.

Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association, said: “On the face of it, it does seem very strange that at the height of the UK asparagus season, we are seeing competition from abroad undercutting UK-grown asparagus.

“It has been a difficult asparagus growing season in the UK. The weather has wreaked havoc with the crop. Some growers have had a good season, whereas others haven’t.

“In fairness to Tesco, they buy a large amount of British produce. It will be interesting to understand exactly what has gone on here.”

Tesco response

A Tesco spokesman said: “Despite coming towards the end of the UK asparagus-growing season, we continue to sell as much British asparagus as we can source.

“To ensure there is good availability for our customers, we have had to supplement our British supply due to recent unseasonably cold conditions having an impact on asparagus growth.”