`Demand for Extra Virgin Drives Olive Oil Sales in Spain - Olive Oil Times

Demand for Extra Virgin Drives Olive Oil Sales in Spain

By Eduardo Hernandez
Oct. 1, 2020 12:42 UTC

Olive oil sales in Spain increased by nine per­cent in the first eight months of 2020 com­pared with last year, accord­ing to data released by the National Association of Edible Oil Bottlers and Refiners (Anierac).

Overall, 232 mil­lion liters of olive oil were sold in the first eight months of the cal­en­dar year, the data showed. Bottled olive oil sales accounted for 27.2 mil­lion liters of this total and rep­re­sented nearly half of all bot­tled veg­etable oil sales in the coun­try.

Of this total, 11.4 mil­lion liters were bot­tled extra vir­gin olive oil, while the rest of the sales included vir­gin olive oil and blended olive oils. Additionally, one mil­lion liters of olive pomace oil was bot­tled and sold in 2020.

The data released by Anierac, which was ana­lyzed by the Spanish agri­cul­tural pub­li­ca­tion, Agrodigital, also showed that over­all olive oil sales increased by 5.3 per­cent in the first 11 months of the 2019/20 crop year (which runs from October 2019 to September 2020) com­pared with the pre­vi­ous one.

During this time period, pack­aged and bulk extra vir­gin olive oil sales rose to 15 mil­lion liters, an increase of 12.7 per­cent com­pared with the pre­vi­ous crop year. Sales of blended olive oils also increased, ris­ing by 3.3 per­cent in the cur­rent crop year.

While extra vir­gin olive oils and blended olive oils gained mar­ket share, sales of vir­gin olive oil and olive pomace oil both dipped in the 2019/20 crop year, falling by 11.2 and 8.5 per­cent, respec­tively.

The increase in extra vir­gin olive oil sales cor­re­sponds with the trend of healthy home cook­ing, one of the more pos­i­tive effects of the Covid-19 pan­demic, which has rav­aged Spain since February.

Decreases in olive pomace oil and vir­gin olive oil sales has also coin­cided with the shut­ter­ing of many of the country’s restau­rants and hotels dur­ing the height of the pan­demic ear­lier this year.



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