Olive oil could soon become prohibitively expensive, traders warn. What's behind the already rising prices – and what the weather in Spain has to do with it:
Olive oil has long been a staple food in every household. The cooking oil is popular and is often touted as a healthier but easy alternative to other oils. But those days could soon be over. The crisis year 2022 already caused prices for edible oils to rise rapidly. And now olive oil threatens to become even more expensive. HEIDELBERG24 has investigated why this is the case and why olive oil may soon become a luxury good.
| Largest Olive Oil Producers in Europe | Oil produced in tonnes |
| Spain | 1.300.000 |
| Italy | 350.000 |
| Greece | 300.000 |
| Portugal | 82.000 |
Olive oil more expensive than ever – what the weather has to do with the high prices
At Öko-Test, most of them could not convince: only one olive oil scored "very good" in the test, most of them failed. But regardless of this, the glass tabs with golden-green contents are becoming more and more expensive. Now that the situation in numerous markets has eased again since the inflationary year 2022, many prices are falling again.
Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi, for example, recently announced that they would lower the prices of numerous cheese products again. However, the situation is different with olive oil. Here it is even likely that prices will explode immeasurably once again. The reason this time is neither inflation nor hoarding due to shortages. Instead, the price increase seems to be due to the weather.
Olive oil is becoming more and more expensive – Europe's largest producer is running out of water
Spring 2023: Here in Germany, it's a rather grey and chilly affair - so May in this country is all about the ice saints. However, a very different picture emerges in Spain. One of Europe's leading olive oil producers has been hit by heat and drought for weeks.
The Spanish weather service Aemet measures record values for the season throughout Spain. Temperatures reach around 40 degrees in April. Reservoirs are drying up, water is becoming scarce. In some regions so much so that it is no longer safe to consume the tap water. As costanachrichten.com reported, a once-in-a-century drought is expected in Spain.
Olive oil is becoming more and more expensive – crop failures drive up prices
And summer hasn't even started yet. The situation is therefore only likely to worsen over the next few months. In addition to the serious consequences for the people, this also has consequences for Spain's agriculture. The olive trees are dying, fewer olives can be produced. Without olives, there is no oil.
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Although there are currently no supply bottlenecks, as Rewe confirmed to WirtschaftsWoche, it will be difficult to supply the same quantities of olive oil under the current circumstances. For example, purchase prices have already gone up due to the narrower harvest. And the next harvest is also expected to be smaller than expected.
Price explosion due to drought – not only olive oil affected
Moreover, the price increases are not only likely to extend to olive oil. Spain, as the "vegetable garden" of Europe, is consistently fighting for its harvests. According to Öko-Test, a major point of criticism in strawberry production, especially in Spain, is the enormous water consumption.
In addition, it is not only Spain that is suffering from an unusual drought. Other olive oil suppliers such as Italy and Portugal are also experiencing a particular drought for the time of year. In the long term, therefore, it will be increasingly difficult to compensate for the loss of money from Spain.
Explosion in olive oil prices – what to do when it becomes unaffordable?
Especially since it is a matter of less olive oil being supplied, it is not advisable to hoard the oil from now on. However, if olive oil becomes too expensive or the shelves remain empty, you can fall back on other oils - or on various edible oil alternatives, because many things can be fried yourself with mineral water, for example. (paw)