Despite record harvest losses, soaring costs, and record-breaking price increases, Spain’s National Association of Industrial Packers and Refiners of Edible Oils (Anierac) reported steady olive oil sales for 2022. Its members sold 305.31 million liters in 2022 compared to 309.35 million liters in 2021, a drop of only 1.31 percent.
There was also a slight (0.86 percent) overall increase in extra virgin olive oil sales in 2022. However, Anierac data reveals a shift in the domestic market away from EVOO to virgin olive oil in the last quarter.
See Also:Olive Oil Business NewsFrom October through December 2022, sales of extra virgin olive oils reached 31 million liters. That is a 4.67 percent decrease compared to the previous year. On the other hand, 7.26 million liters of virgin olive oils were sold compared to 6.58 million liters in 2021, an increase of 10.30 percent.
Of the blended olive oils, sales of sauve (more non-virgin than virgin) blends stayed at roughly the same levels as in 2021. In contrast, intenso (more virgin than non-virgin) blends fell markedly by 23.87 percent, the single largest decrease in all categories.
Sales figures for the significantly cheaper olive pomace oil totaled 18.30 million liters, representing an increase of 16.41 percent. This coincided with a 10.43 million liter, or 3.04 percent, drop in vegetable, (primarily sunflower) oil sales, which were affected by sharp price increases and shortages due to the war in Ukraine.
The resilience of the Spanish domestic olive oil market confirms the views of industry experts, such as Juan Luis Ávila of COAG, who stated in December, “A Spanish family consumes, on average, 40 litres of olive oil per year. If we divide this per month and per family member, the [price] rise is a matter of pennies. People will not give up the Mediterranean Diet to save €60 a year.”
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