Ryde - Isle of Wight - Local suppliers today announced that the shortage of swedes in the Ryde area shows no sign of abating. Swede has been unavailable in the Ryde area for over four days now, although a handful have been reportedly sold in Shanklin, and two in Ventnor. Local sources say that the Shanklin and Ventnor swedes were not sourced from a major wholesaler, but from a local allotment.
It appears that islanders have been going mad for swede recently, using vast quantities to mash together with carrot and butter - a traditional island vegetable serving.
Reg Jobsworth, Store Manager of Ryde's Trashco supermarket told our IOWN reporter:
"We simply can't get hold of swede at the moment, not even from the allotments. We've sent a buyer over to the mainland to scour Lincolnshire and the Ormskirk area, but the last we heard from him was that the wholesale price of swede in some veg markets was approaching the price of gold bullion. They're just asking silly money for this prized commodity, but we'll do our best to secure supplies at affordable prices - even if we have to send a man to Sweden to do it."
One local swede afficionado blamed hoarders and panic buyers for the shortage, saying that such people were selling black market swede to local restaurateurs at extortionate prices.
One Ryde restaurant was offering mashed swede and carrot, with butter and a sprinkling of sea salt for £97.49 inc VAT per serving spoonful, and there has been no shortage of island gourmands prepared to shell out their hard-earned on the luxury vegetable mix. The owner told us that he was fully booked weeks in advance.
At present, carrots remain freely available, but experts advise that this may not be the case for long, as market forces artificially inflate the price.
More as we get it.
