The 5 foods whose price has increased the most

Lately there has been no other topic of conversation: how expensive is everything in the supermarket! That’s how it is. Food prices do not stop and continue to rise: in one year they increased by 10.5%although the overall CPI in the state is 2.6%.

However, not all food prices have increased at the same rate. The food of which The price has risen the most for olive oil (52.5%). This is the largest annual increase in the past 21 years. The price of olive oil started to rise in April 2021, when it registered an annual increase of 2%. In May of that year the increase was 5% and has been rising in double digits monthly since then. But this latest month is the most notable increase in a long time, as the annual rate was 38.8% in July and suddenly jumped to 52.5% in August.

In the list of the 5 foods that have become the most expensive, it takes second place sugar (42.5%), followed by rice (21.6%), confectionery products (18.2%) and potatoes (18%). A little further down the rankings are the milk – which increased by 15.1% – for example pork (15.6%) or beef (6.8%). These are all essential products in many homes.

One of the reasons that point of this price increase is the meteorology: heat and drought. In general, agricultural and livestock production has declined especially in sugar, grains, legumes and oils. In addition, the stress that animals experience from heat also reduces the production of products such as milk and eggs.

In case of olive oilthe fields have been receiving less water than normal for two years, as explained by Mikel Izagirre from the Erroiz Olioak trujal in Lanciego in the Euskadi Irratia program “Faktoria”. Last year production fell by 55% (approximately 663,000 tons were collected) and this year this is expected to be similar or even slightly less.

Another important point, according to Izagirre, is that Spain continues to export olive oil, while other Mediterranean countries have decided to close their doors to exports. In this sense, the OCU has denounced that the price of EVOO in Spain is ‘by far’ higher than that in Italy, France and Portugal and has asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to carry out ‘immediate inspections’ to to guarantee control. the production chain.

At the moment, demand is greater than supply and that is why prices continue to rise.

Alternatives

According to data from the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE), the average consumption of olive oil per household has decreased in recent years. In 2002 this amounted to 22.1 liters, while in 2007, before the outbreak of the financial crisis, it averaged 30.4 liters per year. All indications are that, if prices continue to rise, consumption of this oil could be reduced even further, as many consumers have already started looking for alternatives.

When asked about the healthy alternatives Nutritionist Nere Sotil tells EVOO about some products such as: ghee or coconut oil. Although, he says, perhaps the key is to change the way we cook and use just a little bit of raw oil in our dishes.