Spaniards are choosing sunflower oil over olive oil – but not because they actually want to
Spain is truly an olive oil country. For a very long time, it was unthinkable for many Spaniards to choose sunflower oil over olive oil. But olive oil devotees can now hardly avoid sunflower oil. Olive oil prices have risen so sharply that more and more Spaniards are opting for the golden-yellow oil after all.
Of all the products in the supermarket, the price of olive oil rose the fastest. The reason: extreme drought and heat mean that Spanish olive oil farmers (and, in fact, farmers in other olive oil-producing countries too) are nowhere near able to achieve normal production figures. Harvests are failing; some producers are anticipating losses of up to 90 percent. It bears some resemblance to the coffee crisis that is charging towards us at full speed.
High demand, low supply
Scarcity makes things expensive. There is little good olive oil available, so the price of the olive oils that are available is rising. But for many Spanish households, that is simply unaffordable. Just look at this: in some cases, the price of olive oil rose by as much as 50% this year compared with the price in 2022. The huge price increases mean that sunflower oil is more popular among Spaniards this year for the first time than olive oil. In the first half of 2024, 179 million litres of sunflower oil were bought, compared with 107 million litres of olive oil. In 2023, olive oil was still at the top. Believe me, they are not doing this because they have suddenly become crazy sunflower oil fans.
Trouble with olive oil
On top of that, many thieves are striking at olive groves and in supermarkets. Now that olive oil is so ridiculously expensive, they genuinely see the stuff as saleable gold. That is why they plunder olive trees and pull bottles of expensive olive oil from supermarket shelves. And there is more: a lot of fake olive oil is being sold, as well as oil made from rotten olives… What a hassle surrounding a product that is so delicious and indispensable in the kitchen. Such a shame!
Read also:
- Genius: this is what you can use the tab on your sunflower oil bottle for
- €10 difference: this olive oil is insanely more expensive at Albert Heijn
- Research shows: olive oil could help prevent Alzheimer’s
Source: NU.nl
