2023-10-07 07:56:48
Is olive oil about to become a luxury product in Spain? In any case, it is increasingly common to find anti-theft bottles on the shelves of Spanish supermarkets. “The prices are monstrous”storm, at the beginning of October, Roberto Sanchez, 70, in front of the stalls of a Carrefour department store in Majadahonda, in the western suburbs of Madrid. “Previously, the same bottle cost me less than 5 euros. Recently, it went up to 12 euros. There, I’m going to stock up because there’s a special offer for 10 euros. »
The basis of Spanish cuisine, used raw to season salads, to grease planchas or cooked to make squid frying baths and other local specialties, virgin olive oil has seen its price more than double in one year. This increase is therefore experienced as a real national tragedy. “I switched to white brands and cut my consumption in halfexplains Mariana, a 46-year-old housewife and mother of two children, refusing to give her name. Previously, I consumed one bottle per week; Now I’m happy with one every two weeks. » Luz Elena, a 64-year-old Peruvian, laments: “For me, it’s even worse than the rise in the price of gasoline, and I’m afraid it won’t last: it’s not raining, the trees must not be bearing much fruit. »
Increase in fixed costs
Indeed, the terrible drought from which the kingdom is suffering has reduced the harvest of olives. With barely 673,000 tonnes during the 2022-2023 campaign, oil production fell by 55% compared to the previous campaign. At this minimal harvest, the “worst of the century”as farmers keep repeating, are added the increases in the prices of electricity, fuel and fertilizers, which have caused their fixed costs to jump.
“The effect of climate change is obvious: we have always had alternating periods of drought but not like today. This has been going on for over three years.underlines José Gilabert, a 58-year-old farmer, who owns 65 hectares in the Jaen region, in Andalusia, the world capital of olive oil. It rains less and especially less spread out over time and, when precipitation falls, it is in the form of storms. As for temperatures, they continue to break records. »
At the start of October, the thermometer still shows 36°C. “This is 10°C warmer than the seasonal norm. When it started to rain at the beginning of September, we had hopes of improving the 2023-2024 campaign, but it did not last and we are very worried.adds the producer, at the head of the Puerta de Las Villas brand.
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