Drought and extreme heat waves have decimated Spanish olive oil production. The price increased by 112% compared to last year.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Olive groves in Spain ripen the fruits of one of the most consumed products in the world and an essential part of the Mediterranean diet: olive oil. Prices reached historic highs.
Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil, but it is the country where the price has risen the most in the entire European Union.
Drought and extreme heat waves have decimated Spanish olive oil production. The price increased by 112% compared to last year. Farmers say they are still making losses.
“We had higher production costs than ever before,” says Jesus Anchuelo, from the Association of Small Olive Oil Producers. “For the oil that is now being sold and whose price increases every two weeks, we received a price that barely covered production costs.”
The price of a liter of oil in Spanish stores increased by 52.5% in one year, well above the EU average of 38.3% and producing countries such as Italy, Greece and Portugal.
The rise in oil prices also affects other products, such as canned goods. The most expensive ingredient in a can of sardines is the olive oil it contains.
Spain exports 70% of its production abroad. With limited supply, Spanish consumers compete for olive oil in an increasingly competitive global market.
“In Spain we are used to olive oil prices being lower than in the rest of the world,” said Jaime Lillo, from the International Olive Oil Council. “And so the lower prices in Spain became more aligned with Italian prices, with prices in the United States, in France, in Greece.”
This year’s production should be similar to last year’s. A possible drop in the price of olive oil will only be possible with an increase in production – if climate change finally brings peace to Mediterranean countries.