Sunflower oil is displacing olive oil in Spanish kitchens as prices soar

In Spain, the world’s largest olive oil producer, sunflower oil has dethroned olive oil as king of the kitchen as rising prices force consumers to switch to cheaper alternatives.

According to Anierac, Spain’s largest olive oil bottling association, Spaniards bought 107 million liters (28.3 million gallons) of all types of olive oil in the first half of 2024, compared to 179 million liters of sunflower oil.

Until this year, olive oil was the most popular cooking oil in Spanish households, accounting for 62% of sales volume in 2023, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, while sunflower oil accounted for almost 34%.

“It is clear that olive oil consumption is falling in Spain,” said Primitivo Fernandez, spokesman for Anierac. “There are households that previously only bought olive oil and are now buying sunflower oil and olive oil for the first time,” he said.

Sales of olive oil fell by 18% in the first half of 2023, Anierac said. Sales of sunflower oil increased by 25% in volume last year, according to official data.

A bottle of sunflower oil cost an average of 1.86 euros ($2.07) per liter last year, while more expensive olive oils cost up to 6 euros per liter, 50% more than in 2022, official data show.

Effects of the weather

Spain normally supplies around 40% of the world’s olive oil, but spring heatwaves and a prolonged drought have reduced the olive harvest over the past two years, causing olive oil prices to double to record levels.

This has made the staple of the Mediterranean diet unaffordable for poor households in Spain, who are switching to cheaper sunflower oil, according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture on food consumption trends in 2023.

At the end of last year, olive oil was consumed mainly in middle-class and upper-middle-class households, the report says.

One-litre bottles of extra virgin olive oil sold for as much as 14.50 euros (15.77 dollars) in some supermarkets last year, putting them in the category of products that retailers add safety labels to.

In June, the Spanish government cut VAT on olive oil to make it more affordable, although prices have fallen somewhat this year.

Spain’s largest supermarket chain Mercadona has cut the price of olive oil by 25 percent this year and this week offered 1-liter bottles for under 7 euros in a bid to win back customers, company sources said.