The high prices of olive oil were in the news for much of 2023, and it seems that they will continue to be so this new year. Facua-Consumers in Action has just published a study that reflects how much this central product in the Mediterranean diet has become more expensive on average and the result is nothing short of surprising. Extra virgin olive oil is 69.3% more expensive than a year ago, a fact that the association has extracted after analyzing the prices of 18 brands for sale in Mercadona, Dia, Hipercor, Alcampo, Eroski and Carrefour.
To reach this conclusion, Facua has compared the prices of the oils on January 3, 2023 with those on January 2, 2024. The products included in the analysis, they explain, are extra virgin in different formats (containers of plastic of 1, 3 and 5 liters, 500 and 750 milliliters, and 200 milliliters in spray).
"Contrary to the argument put forward by manufacturers and supermarket chains, the increases are not solely the result of the increase in the price of the product at origin. In the last year, price increases at points of sale represent up to 2.54 euros per liter more than at origin," adds the organization.
According to this study, the most marked increase has occurred in the extra virgin olive oils sold by Carrefour, with an average of 75.8% among the 12 products analyzed. Alcampo follows with an increase in price of 73.9% among the 15 oils included in the analysis, and Eroski, with an average increase of 71.3% among a sample of seven products.
In Hipercor, the increase has been 69.2% among a selection of 12 extra virgin oils; in Dia, 68.2% on a sample of 11 products; and in Mercadona, 57.3% on the four articles that complete the study.
If the product that has become most expensive is valued, the liter of Coosur Hojiblanca brand extra virgin in Eroski tops the ranking, which has gone from 5.69 euros in January 2023 to 14.50 euros in January 2024. This represents a price increase of 154.8%. "Nothing less than 8.81 euros per liter," Facua points out.
The second biggest increase has been experienced by the five-liter bottle of Carbonell extra virgin in Alcampo, which has gone from 25.72 to 60.68 euros in one year (136% more expensive); and the third, the liter of Coosur Hojiblanca brand extra virgin also on sale in this supermarket, with an increase of 114.2% (it was sold at 5.70 euros, while it is now at 12.21 euros).
The 18 brands that the study has valued are Hacendado, Casa Juncal, Coosur, La Española, Dcoop, Hojiblanca, Carbonell, Oro de Genave, Jaencoop, Almazara del Olivar, Oleoestepa, El Corte Inglés, Alcampo, Maestros de Hojiblanca, Koipe, Eroski , Ybarra, Carrefour.
Faced with these results, Facua has once again asked the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, "to open an investigation into the illegal increases in profit margins that are presumably occurring both in olive oil and in many other foods." affected by the VAT reduction. The royal decree-law that establishes this measure, extended until mid-2024, prohibits increases in margins," they denounce.
To justify its accusation, the organization explains that the average cost of a liter of extra virgin olive oil in the supermarkets analyzed has gone from 6.91 euros in the first month of 2023 to 12 euros in January 2024. On the contrary, "the average price per liter at origin, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has gone from 4.91 euros in the first week of January 2023 to 7.45 euros in the week of December 10 to 17, 2023 (VAT not included)".
This reflects that the average increase in extra virgin olive oil in one-liter plastic bottles has been 73.6% during the last year (69.3% if all formats are taken into account), while the increase that has occurred at origin has been 51.7%, they conclude.
