More liquid gold than ever. The figures managed by the National Association of Industrial Packaging and Refiners of Sustainable Oils (ANIERAC) indicate that in the first two months of this campaign, corresponding to October and November, sales of olive oil (virgin, extra virgin…) They have plummeted by 32.66%, reaching 36.79 million liters placed on the market compared to 54.63 million a year ago. According to a statement sent by this association, throughout the year, from January to November, 96.14 million liters have been sold. This represents a decline of 19.44% compared to the same period of the previous year.
If analyzed by category, between October and November, the worst off has been extra virgin olive oil (the highest quality), whose sales in this period have fallen by 36.98% compared to the previous campaign. Bottlers and refiners put 14.06 million liters of this type of oil on the market. For its part, 4.34 million liters of virgin olive oil have been sold, compared to 4.75 million in the 2022/2023 campaign. This is a decline of 8.66%.
If we consider “mild” and “intense” olive oil, the quantity sold is 13.07 and 5.30 million liters respectively, which represents a decrease in both the “mild” (-38.14%) and the “intense” ( -17.40%) compared to the figures that were reached in these first two months of the previous campaign.
Search for alternatives
The increase in the price of olive oil, in its different categories, has led consumers to look for alternatives in vegetable oils such as sunflower. According to data published this Friday by Anierac, bottlers and refiners have released 336.53 million liters of vegetable oils between January and November, 29.16 million liters more than in the same period in 2022. Which represents a 9.49% mass.
If we analyze the main vegetable oils (sunflower, seeds, rapeseed and soy) that coincide with the olive oil campaign, the total figure placed on the market has been 64.39 million liters, 11.47% more than in the previous campaign, when 57.76 million liters were reached. For its part, sunflower oil with 46.59 million liters presents practically the same figure as in the previous campaign.
Regarding seed oil, 17.19 million liters have been sold. This represents an increase of 75.27%. On the other hand, within their small market share, rapeseed and soybean oils register declines with 0.508 and 0.099 million liters made available to the public. This represents a decrease of 42.08% and 75.25% respectively.
