Olive oil is how much now? Prices jump again amid worldwide shortage

Shoppers may find themselves doing adouble takein the olive oil section of their local grocery stores these days, as industry analysts say prices have reached a record high.

Prices for extravirgin olive oil in stores across Canadahave increased an average 25.6 per cent since January alone,ranging from$13.99 to $24.99 per litre nationwide, according to datacollected betweenDec. 31 and May 13 by theAgri-FoodAnalyticsLab at Dalhousie University and viewed byCBCNews.

That's on top of the already-skyrocketingprices consumers have stomached recently asgrowersin Europecontend with drought, wildfires, floods and other affects ofclimate change.

In Canada, the average price forone litre has more than doubled over the pastthree years, from $6.62 in March 2021 to $15.93in March 2024, according to Statistics Canada's most recentmonthly average retail pricesa 140 per cent increase.

The worldwide shortage has led tosupermarkets in Spain locking up the liquid goldto prevent theft and, reportedly, toItalians reducing their consumptionofthe mainstay of the Mediterranean diet.

Meanwhile, consumers are experiencing sticker shock.

"Sorry butwtf is going on with the price of olive oil??" a U.K. woman wrote on X,formerly Twitter, in April, alongside agrocery store photo showing pricesranging upto 13.85 pounds for a litre (about $22.39 Cdn).

The challenges in olive oil production have been nothing short of a crisis in Spain, the world's largest producer, where production was down 62 per cent last year, according to international olive oil expertFil Bucchino, who is based in Toronto.

"The Mediterranean has endured three consecutive years of difficult harvests, with a slew of factors from weather to geopolitical issues culminating in a perfect storm during the last harvest,"Bucchinotold CBC News.

"This is another wake-up call regarding our relationship with nature and our drive for profits."

Production plummets, prices soar

Bad weather has also hit olive crops in other major growers like Greece,Italyand Portugal.Greece and Spain have both seen sales plummet by one-third over the last year, according to industry estimatesreported by The Associated Press.

Other contributing factors include supply-chain disruptions, and inflationaryincreases in the prices of fertilizers, transport, gasand electricity, which in turn, have affected production and logistics costs, Bucchino said.

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Globalproduction fell from3.4 million tonnes in 2022 to 2.5 million tonneslast year, and it's forecastto beeven lower this year, says Nicholas Li, an assistant professor in the department of economics at Toronto Metropolitan University.

So, why does it feel like prices jumped again recently?Partly becauseit took time for inventory torun down, Li says. And when it became clear that this year's production wouldn't bounce back, pricessurged throughout the supply chain.

"This is one case where I don't think you can blame retailers," Li said.

Olive oil is a frequent topic of conversation inthe group"Loblaws is out of control"on Reddit,which has nearly 80,000 membersand is currently leading a month-long boycott of the grocery chain.

ACanadian user shared a photo lastmonth of a bottle of Gallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil selling for $24.49 at a Shoppers Drug Mart, andother usersnoticed high prices at Costco, Walmart, and No Frills.

"Straight-up madness," one user wrote with a photo of a three-litreclub pack for $57.99.

Vulnerable to climate change

An online searchof the big five grocery store chains in Canadashowsprices of a few popular brands available in Ontario ranging fromroughly$15 to $24 for one litre of extra virgin olive oil.

On its website Wednesday,one litre of GalloExtra Virgin Olive Oil atLoblawswas listed as $17.99. The same brand was listed as $14.97 atWalmart,$15.79 atSobeysand $17.99 atMetro.Costco Canada's delivery website did not list Gallo brand as anoption, but one litre of itsKirkland Signature California Extra Virgin Olive Oilwas $19.99.

One litre ofBertolliRich Taste Extra Virgin Oil, another popular brand, was listed as $23.99 atLoblaws, $21.49 atSobeys, $17.99 atMetro(on sale from $18.99), and wasn't listed on the Walmart Canada or Costco Canada sites.

Store brands are generally less expensive and ranged from roughly$12 to $20.

The record-high prices were expected given the conditions in Europe,but thatdoesn't mean it's not painful for consumers, saysSylvainCharlebois, senior directorof the Agri-Food AnalyticsLab in Halifax.

Likecoffeeandcocoa, olive oil is one of those commodities that'sextremelyvulnerable to climate change, Charlebois says, and thosegoodshave also seen price spikes inrecent years.

"Five years agoI think olive oilwas seen asa really decent vegetable oil, and now it's more in the premium category," he said.

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