“Golden” olive oil: The price of a liter reached 10 euros

Olive oil is golden this year, as the price of a liter has reached 10 euros!

The price of olive oil, which is the “protagonist” of the Mediterranean diet, has skyrocketed. Consumers this year are expected to pay “gold” as the liter has currently exceeded 10 euros while it is expected to “climb” to 12 euros.

But what is the reason for the “explosion” of precision and olive oil? Are the Greeks who are used to buying the oil of the year in tins thinking of changing this habit? How will households react to the price increase?

The president of the Institute of Consumers (INKA), Giorgos Lehouritis, answers Newsbeast’s questions, stressing that at the end of September we will see the price of a liter exceed 12 euros.

“With the research that INKA has done on the market, it is established that there were increases in the prices of olive oil during the entire previous period. Now we have reached the point where the liter is sold for 10 euros and in the near future (end of September) it is expected to exceed 12 euros” notes Giorgos Lehouritis.

“Last year we saw that there were olive oils that cost 8 to 9 euros per liter, meaning 80 to 90 euros for a 10-liter tin. At the moment when the liter exceeds 10 euros, the 10-liter tin costs more than 100 euros, while in the coming months it will even reach 120 euros,” he notes.

Why did the price of olive oil go up?

According to the president of the Institute of Consumers (INKA), the increase in the price of olive oil is a multifaceted issue.

“Initially, the increase in the price of olive oil is due to the reduced production of olives this year. The trees had a problem due to the weather conditions that prevailed in our country. There was also a strong need for exports to countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal which also had reduced production. The conditions were thus created to buy the oil of last year’s period, i.e. 2022 and 2023, at higher prices,” he explains.

“When producers last year sold at 5.20 per liter while in 2021-2022 they sold wholesale at 3.5 euros per liter, it is a fact that the retail price will also increase. This year, those who have production will sell even more expensive oil.

At the same time, despite the reductions in production, we have an increase in the price of olive oil due to collection costs. While you used to pay 40 euros a day for 8 hours to collect the fruit, today you pay between 50 and 70 euros” says Giorgos Lehouritis speaking to Newsbeast.

Is the end of the tin finally coming?

According to Giorgos Lehouritis, the Greeks are a people who do not change their habits. “What they followed in the previous years will continue to follow and now they will simply save more. They won’t fill the salad with oil, they won’t add too much to the food. But the Greek will not stop olive oil,” he emphasizes.

In closing, according to newsbeast.gr, the president of the Consumer Institute expresses his concern about the issue of the quality of the olive oil that will reach the table of Greek consumers in the near future.

“The State must be very careful that there are no adulterations in the olive oils that are traded because the citizen cannot easily perceive if he is consuming pure or adulterated oil,” he points out.