As of: March 13, 2024, 6:09 a.m
By: Nico Reiter
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Olive oil is currently a luxury item in Spain.
A shortage drives prices up.
Criminals also take advantage of this.
Madrid - Not alcohol or tobacco - olive oil is the product most often stolen from Spain's supermarkets.
The Guardian
describes several bottles of olive oil being tied together and locked to make it more difficult to steal.
Similar to alcohol in some supermarkets, employees must remove the lock before purchasing.
But why the fight for oil?
Poor harvests lead to olive oil shortages in Spain
The price of food has risen sharply in recent years.
After two years in a row of poor harvests, the country is facing a shortage.
2.4 million tons of olive oil are expected this year; demand is 3 million tons.
Prices have quadrupled.
Anyone who paid around 5 euros for a liter of olive oil a few years ago now has to expect up to 14 euros.
This can drive up the purchasing bill steeply.
However, there are cheaper oil alternatives for dishes.
Organized gangs resell stolen olive oil at high prices on the black market
But the thefts do not come from private individuals.
Organized gangs are trying to make business out of the shortage.
After the oil is stolen, it is resold for good money under the name “liquid gold”.
“We are seeing a big increase in thefts,” Ruben Navarro, CEO of supermarket chain Tu Super, told
Reuters
, “It has become an ideal product to steal.”
(Symbolic image) Olive oil is becoming the most stolen product in Spain © Gerhard Leber/Imago
Black market resales like this are common, but usually involve other products, such as alcohol, drugs and weapons.
Theft from supermarkets is rare - and when it is, it is for exclusive products.
Alejandro Alegre, from security firm STC, tells
The Guardian
: “Olive oil is one of the few products that could be considered a staple food.
The others are Iberian ham, aged cheese, razor blades and alcohol.”
Theft in Spain's supermarkets has been increasing in recent years
Similar incidents have occurred not only in Spain, but also in Greece and Italy.
In December 2023, several people were arrested in Spain and Italy.
The police found over 5,000 liters of olive oil at the organization.
Rather cheap oil should be resold here at a more expensive price.
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But the theft of oil is also accompanied by a general increase in theft in the country.
The Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE), which represents Spanish companies, describes an increase of 30 percent in supermarkets in the country in 2022 and another 12 percent in 2023. The bottles have been chained together since September.
“It’s a crazy, extreme measure, but it works,” Navarro said.
(No)