FOODS FOR THOUGHT

A weekly shop without coffee, chocolate or a joint of meat may seem unthinkable but consumer experts predict our changing climate could remove key products from supermarkets within a decade, with some shortfalls expected just around the aisle corner

- Samantha Downes

IT IS that time of the week when the big food shop needs doing and the cupboards are bare. But as you walk through your local supermarket, you realise beef won't be an option for this week's Sunday roast again as the shelves look almost empty.

On to the fruit and veg aisle and there's no avocados in sight while your hopes of supporting British farmers by buying local carrots and parsnips are immediately scuppered.

Even coffee and chocolate seem in short supply and worst of all, this isn't a one-off situation unique to your local store or the day you've chosen to do your shopping - it's a window into the supermarket shops of the not-too-distant future, one food experts predict will look remarkably different within a few short years because of climate change and rising costs.

Worryingly, some of these changes are already apparent. Take one of our sweetest treats, chocolate. Right now there is a global shortage of cocoa after west African countries, responsible for 70% of cacao production, suffered poor harvests due to heat, heavy rainfall and disease. The crisis is expected to get worse as our planet continues to warm.

And it's affecting consumers doing their weekly shopping now with the average price of Easter chocolate surging more than 10% over the last five years, according to analysis released this week. A small milk chocolate Lindt Gold Bunny weighing 100g, as one example, has soared from £2.99 to £4.25. Based on current trends, consumers could be paying £6.04 for it by the end of the decade.

Élsewhere, shoppers have been warned to expect shortfalls of broccoli, cauliflower and other brassica vegetables in the coming weeks because of an unusually mild autumn and winter. This will coincide with the traditional "hungry gap" between April and June when winter crops have ended but summer crops aren't ready for harvesting.