Olive Oil Prices Soar

Aurelia

Aurelia

Community Member
Nov 10, 2014
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Sarajevo
We too have felt this and I don't live in Italy.

The Guardian articles:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/03/olive-oil-price-rise-feared
http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2014/dec/02/olive-oil-prices-soar-bad-harvest

The oil has become so expensive that many have trouble affording it. It's such a shame. It's healthy and iconic in some countries. The Guardian says: "A dreadful 12 months for olives in several major producing countries has led to 2014 being labelled the “black year” for the industry and to the doubling of the bulk cost of olive oil in some areas."

I'd already written about the olive trees being hit by a deadly bacteria... there's apparently also fruit fly infestation and some other things that had lead to this situation. We must be hopeful for this year... it can't be worse, can it?
 
Maybe it's a good time to stock up. In Lidl it's £1.99 for 750ml and it's okay. It's a shame for the farmers and I am sure this will affect them, often these effects take a while but these days there are so many oils and olive oil is used as a base. Unfortunately it is nature and it can't be prevented and it's the same with farming in general that crops and profits depend on forces outside of our control.
 
Yes, exactly. Lidl is still not that expensive, huh? Good to know. We don't have Lidl around here, but this information is welcome anyway. I don't remember when we'd stocked something up... makes you feel...

Let's hope they figure something out. A lot of Apulia trees suffered the deadly infestation. There's a great danger of spreading... then olive oil will become more expensive than pistachio or almond. And that would be the problem. For the time being, we don't feel the effects yet. But who knows.
 
Uh-oh! I can't believe I haven't seen this yet!
Usually, when buying olive oil, I prefer buying "in bulk". So I always get 3-4 or even more bottles, because it's convenient, since I always get them when they're 'on sale'. last time I bought a few bottles of olive oil was in December. I'll check out Lidl as well, there are 2 Lidl supermarkets in my town, but I almost never shop there :D

I wonder if this will affect all prices for all olive oil types.
I also wonder if this is only a temporary problem and how much time will be needed for things to get back to normal :(
 
Well, let's hope that this year's harvest is better or the prices will soar even higher :/

Do buy as much as you can now, just in case... I got a few bottles extra as well while it was, as you say, "on sale", but we don't have Lidl here, so prices are higher than elsewhere... although it may not appear so.

I haven't heard any updates yet, but if I find anything new, I'll let you know.
 
Wow, I haven't heard of this, so I'm very glad you posted! Is this going to hit the West soon as well? I live in New England, and I don't think olive oil prices have soared yet, but like Rosie said, we often buy in bulk as well, so I haven't really gone to look lately. I'm going to the supermarket tomorrow, so I'm going to check it out.

I thought I heard something about a shortage in certain products in California, but I am not sure if olive oil was one of them. If the prices did go up would it be cost-effective to make our own olive oil? Or would that cost just as much due to the olives being what is inflating the price?
 
Well, there's an independent olive oil industry in the US, so it's unlikely that anything should change, unless the harvests start plummeting there as well. So far, I haven't seen any articles about that, but keep an eye out, just in case.

Now when you mention it, I haven't found anything about the problems in Italy either, so the situation must be getting better.
 
We get our olive oil in Italy from my husband's cousin who grows olive trees. It was a really bad year last year and it's creeping in this year. When we went at Christmas we thought just his cousin had a bad year so we went to another local source (an agriturismo for you guys living in Italy) and they had the same problems. Some of the trees were affected this year as well and production was very little. We bought 5 liters of this years oil from them but paid about 15 euro more than usual. Which is still fine because if you have never had fresh, local oil you are missing out! I feel bad because the crisis is hitting hard as it is and this is really the last thing people needed.
 
Maybe I need to move to Spain and smuggle olive oil into Italy. It sounds like it could be a very lucrative business. I could start my own olive oil mafia.
 
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I think he might be better off sticking to olive oil, as I'm sure that there might be other organizations out there that may have cornered the market when it comes to importing 'other substances'!!!
 
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