SPANISH shoppers contending with olive oil setting them back as much as €10 a litre have been raging at their staple food product being half the price in London.
A Spaniard living in London highlighted how one litre of ‘mild’ olive oil from Antequera in Andalucia is selling in Lidl at £4.99 – equivalent to €5.80.
And extra virgin olive oil was just £3.89 per 750ml – £5.19 per litre or €6.02, with experts predicting it will hit €13 per litre in Spain soon.
“They are taking the p***!” wrote LaVecinaCottilla (the Gossiping Neighbour) on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Spain’s long running drought and intense heat waves have seriously impacted olive oil production, reducing supply and driving up prices at home.
Therefore several users speculated on potential reasons for why the prices might have remained lower in the UK, ranging from stockpiling and supply chain dynamics to the influence of market demand on pricing.
One user pointed out that olive oil’s price might be affected by the time of bottling and the purchase price of the oil itself.
However, others pointed out that the olive oil on British shelves was all ‘refined’ and not of the same quality as that found in Spanish shops.
“What in Spain is called ‘mild olive oil’?” another responded.
“That’s paraffin – I wouldn’t even use it to light a lamp,” responded a third.
Spain is the world’s number one olive oil exporter, pumping out 718,000 tonnes to Europe in 2021, worth a non-negligible €3.6 billion, according to trade data experts OEC.
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