Too expensive: one in three Italians no longer buys extra virgin olive oil

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The price ofextra virgin olive oil reached 9 euros a bottle and one in three consumers no longer buy it as much as they used to. The alarm comes from a survey conducted by the Piepoli Institute, which interviewed a sample of Italians. The data will be presented tomorrow in Bitonto, as part of the Cibus Lab seminar dedicated to olive oil and co-organised by Cibus di Parma.

According to the authors of the investigation, a perfect storm has hit the yellow gold market, which is not limited to the borders of the peninsula. The climate crisis that has led to a decrease in global olive oil production It has hit hard especially in Spain, whose producers have long been able to flood the market with bottles of oil at competitive prices. However, all this could not be repeated in 2023, when the drastic decline in Spanish production has led to a shortage of product on the market and the consequent doubling of the average cost per liter on the shelves of large-scale retail trade. Hence the distancing of consumers.

The numbers of the survey

According to the Piepoli study, the increase in price from 4 to 9 euros per bottle has changed the purchasing habits of around 30% of consumers. In particular, 47% of those interviewed declared that they had reduced consumption by 30% and 40% said they had halved it. More generally, 45% of the sample claims to have changed their cooking habits by switching to the cheaper seed oil: many only for cooking, some also for seasoning.

According to the Piepoli Institute, this escape from oil will have long-lasting consequences and could lead to a stable reduction in consumption of up to 40%: «In Italy – explains Sara Merigo, CEO of the Institute – oil has always been a product widely consumed by citizens and the reduction in consumption on the one hand, combined with the transformation of habits on the other, will have a long-term impact on a sector that represents true Italian excellence”. In short, consumers are increasingly attentive to the price variable: compared to the 3 or 4 euros per bottle on offer in past years, they are aware that they can no longer pay such a low price. But when asked what the right cost should be for a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil made in Italy, half of those interviewed answered 7 euros.

The reaction of oil producers

However, the producers do not totally agree with these numbers. «Those of the random surveys are instinctive responses, which take moods into account – claims Zefferino Monini, CEO of the oil mill of the same name – Nielsen data, which tracks real purchases, shows a decline, but a smaller one. For 2023, sales of extra virgin olive oil in large-scale retail trade decreased by 9.5% and the average for the months of January and February 2024 indicates a drop in volumes of around 7.8%”. Consumers’ stomachs, however, should not be ignored, because it indicates a purchasing intention for the future, and this future does not look rosy. All eyes are on the price: «The market began to inflate prices when it began to be understood that the olive growing campaign was going badly – says Monini – for the future, a lot will depend on how the next harvest goes. Spring seems to promise well in terms of rainfall. If everything proceeds smoothly, and the next olive growing campaign will be satisfactory not only in Italy, we can expect a drop in prices in 2025 to around 6 euros per bottle».