Spaniards choose sunflower oil more often than olive oil!

The king of Spanish cuisine is sunflower oil, not olive oil, which is linked to rising prices and climate change negatively affecting olive cultivation, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a report by Anierac, an olive oil refining association.

According to the organization, in the first half of 2024, Spaniards purchased 107 million liters of all types of olive oil, compared to 179 million liters of sunflower oil.

According to experts, spring heatwaves in the Iberian Peninsula and increasingly long dry periods have led to a decline in olive harvests over the past two years. The result is that the price of olive oil has doubled to record levels.

This represents a major change in consumption habits. Until this year, olive oil was the most popular cooking oil in Spanish households, accounting for 62% of sales by volume in 2023, while sunflower oil accounted for almost 34%, the Ministry of Agriculture reported.

Olive oil consumption is decreasing

Anierac spokesman Primitivo Fernández said that “olive oil consumption in Spain is decreasing.”

There are families that previously only bought olive oil and now buy sunflower oil and olive oil for the first time

– he announced.

Olive oil sales by volume fell by 18% compared to the first half of 2023, Anierac reported. According to official data, sunflower oil sales increased by 25% last year.

Last year, a bottle of sunflower oil cost an average of 1.86 euros (about PLN 8) per liter, while the most expensive types of olive oil cost more than 6 euros (almost PLN 26) per liter, which is 50% more than in 2022. At the same time, in some supermarkets, a liter bottle of extra virgin olive oil reached a price of up to 14.5 euros (approximately PLN 62), becoming a luxury product.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, high olive oil prices have made the Mediterranean diet out of reach for less affluent Spanish families who have switched to cheaper sunflower oil. By the end of 2023, olive oil was consumed mainly by middle and upper class families.

The Spanish government in June this year reduced the tax on olive oil to make it more affordable.

Spain’s largest supermarket chain, Mercadona, has announced that it has reduced the price of olive oil by 25 percent this year. This week, liter bottles priced at less than 7 euros (PLN 30) appeared on its shelves to attract customers. Spain supplies approximately 40 percent of the world’s olive oil.

evil/PAP