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Olive oil crisis: Spanish farmers accuse supermarkets of inflating prices amid production shortages
Spanish olive oil producers say big supermarkets are making huge profits at the expense of consumers by making a 59% margin over the initial price.
Heatwaves and drought have been crippling olive oil production in recent years.
Spain — the world’s largest olive oil provider — expects production to drop by 50% this year.
On top of creating a perfect breeding ground for counterfeit products, shortages sent prices through the roof.
Spanish farmers say supermarkets are taking advantage of the situation to increase profits at the expense of consumers.
“The initial price of our products has increased only by 3%,” said Carles Peris Ramos, General Secretary of the farmer association La Unió.
“And stil, consumers are paying 59% more when buying at large supermarkets”.
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But supermarkets deny inflating prices.
Pedro Reig, director of the Association of Supermarkets of the Valencian Community, maintained that “the price of virgin olive oil has remained below €10 throughout 2024.”
However, consumer organisations say prices are still too high, despite the complete elimination of value-added tax on olive oil in Spain since 1 July.
Consumers in Spain are reacting by switching to cheaper products, such as sunflower oil, which has surprisingly become the country’s most popular choice despite olive oil being one of the Mediterranean diet’s foundations.
In the first half of this year, Spaniards bought 179 million litres of sunflower oil compared to 107 liters of olive oil, the country’s olive bottling association Anierac reported.
Last year, olive oil was still the dominant condiment, accounting for 62% of sales by volume, while sunflower oil represented less than 34%.
