The price of the Olive Oil (EVOO) is doubling. And it is not due to inflation

In the last months we have observed how the price of olive oil in its different forms has shot up. This phenomenon coincides with an episode of inflation in all Western economies, but inflation is not the cause, but the consequence. In fact, as the retail portal Maltby & Greek explains, the oil market has its own rules of operation.

The price has doubled in two years

Just one fact: in July 2021, the price per kilo of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) was around €3.40 in Spain. Two years later, it is over €7.20. More than double. Apparently, one has to go back thirty years (1997) to find similar prices.

Data from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (2023).

The reason for this significant increase is to be found in the situation of permanent drought that we are experiencing in the Spanish countryside. Since the winter of 2022, rainfall has been reduced and harvests have been increasingly poorer in quantity, continually pushing up prices. Without going any further, this season, half the production of the previous year was harvested.

One of the consequences of this problem is that the price increases are being passed on to the rest of Europe. As the portal Maltby & Greek explains, Spain is the world’s largest producer of EVOO and its contribution to international trade in this product is 40%. We could say hat, when it comes to olive oil, “when Spain sneezes, the world catches a cold”.

A call to care for the environment

Lack of rainfall and chronic drought are a consequence of climate change. This is a fact that is undisputed by science, but which unfortunately receives little political attention. And, although it may seem that we are very happy because the price of oil is rising, the truth is that at Ralda & Friends our mission is not to become millionaires, but to preserve the environment, the local economy of our village as well as people’s health and a friendly way of life.

We wish for rain. And that the prices of EVOO are reduced all over the world. So that everyone can enjoy it and its properties. But for that we need everyone to do their part on global warming.

We are working on it.

Alfredo & Pierre RALDA