Olive harvest /
In December, the ‘oils and fats’ price heading increased by more than 6% and in 2022 oil cost 38% more than in 2021
Everything has gone up in the super’. ‘With 50 euros you have less and less money to make the purchase’. These are expressions that any consumer can hear in line at any establishment before paying. He is right, with food inflation in 2022 having widely exceeded 15% compared to the previous year.
However, there are many nuances that the pockets of consumers themselves will have noticed in recent weeks: the records of the INE (National Institute of Statistics) reveal that only among what has risen the loaf of bread, milk, dairy derivatives (such as yoghurts) and olive oil alone account for 1.5 points of the entire CPI.
One of the problems for citizens lies precisely in olive oil, given that it is one of the most used products when cooking. In December alone, the ‘oils and fats’ price heading increased by more than 6%, in just 30 days compared to the November data. And throughout 2022 the oil cost 38% more than in 2021. Hence, it is less and less strange to see a liter of olive oil on the shelves of shops for more than six euros per bottle, when just a year ago year it cost three euros and even less.
To top off these skyrocketing costs, the reality is that olive oil suffers the effects of a drought like the one that affected all the most productive territories last year, led by Andalusia. And now the consequences are coming from that weather, with much higher prices. In addition, there is a growing demand for this product after the sunflower oil import problems that have existed since the war began in Ukraine, one of the granaries and suppliers of this vegetable for the rest of Europe, in general, and Spain, in particular.
But it is not the only product that is suffering the ravages of the drought. Also the pork ham. The lack of rain has meant that a large part of the Extremaduran, Andalusian and Meseta pastures have been almost depleted of acorns, this peculiar fruit that pigs feed on to obtain the Iberian ham.
Given the lack of raw material, there cannot be so many heads that are put out into the fields to graze during these months to improve the offspring and thus have more product available for the coming months. Now that the Christmas season is over –one of the periods of the year with the greatest demand for ham–, reality is making itself felt in a sector that is also seeing how costs rise.
To the increase in prices of the usual variables such as energy costs or transport costs, the lack of quality acorns to feed the pigs has now been added. The other alternative, that of using feed, is not much cheaper either. All compounds have raised their prices, as has happened with fertilizers for agriculture, leaving ham only for gourmet pockets.