The image of Jamie Oliver dousing a fresh salad or plate of pasta in olive oil might seem ambitious a the moment. Britons expressed their shock at the hike in olive oil prices in supermarkets across the UK earlier this week, but there have been worrying signs in the industry dating back at least a decade.
Extreme weather conditions in Europe have led to brands increasing their olive oil prices across the region, with the nations providing the oil suffering most from the hike.
“Sorry but what is going on with the price of olive oil?” one concerned Brit said on X. But if you do need to buy olive oil, which supermarket provides the best value?
We went to four of the biggest UK supermarkets to compare prices – Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Lidl and Waitrose – looking at 500ml bottles.
It will come as no surprise that the most affordable oil from all four stores were their own brands – with fairly similar prices.
500ml at Waitrose currently retails for £5.50, with their cheapest extra virgin olive oil coming in at £5.95.
At Tesco, their olive oil retails for 25p more than Waitrose, standing at £5.75. Their extra virgin olive oil is also more expensive at £6.50.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s also has their own brand of olive oil, currently costing £5.75. Their extra virgin olive oil comes in at £6.50, again making it more expensive than Waitrose.
But the winner when it came to price was Lidl, with their extra virgin olive oil coming in at £4.79 for 500ml – making it cheaper than Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s regular olive oil prices. Surprisingly though, it was only 71p cheaper than Waitrose.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, olive oil expert Judy Rigway – author of The Olive Oil Diet – said extreme weather in Spain and Greece was “mostly to blame” for the price hike.
She said: “There are a number of factors. The most important one in shortages are due to the weather conditions and the effect it has on the growth of the olive trees and the fruit. They had extreme temperatures, particularly in Spain, who produce well over half of the olive oil production in the world.
“Some were down to 20 to 30 percent of their normal production. There was a heatwave in March that led to drought and it continued during the summer when there was no rain for quite a long time. That’s the main reason why there was a shortage of olive oil which is why prices have gone up. They had bad problems in Greece too. There were also hikes in price for essentials you need in olive oil productions, like the bottles to store it in.
“If the small family-run businesses are hit, they can’t supply. Medium producers who supply to the big supermarkets were also shut down. If you’re looking at the big brands, they don’t grow olives themselves. The whole market is affected.”
Judy added that producers were “concerned” the market may never be back to what it was, as thousands opt for cheaper oils as the cost of living crisis continues.
“I was talking to growers in Spain a couple of weeks ago and they said they got some rain over Easter which helps and they are keeping their fingers crossed they will get the weather needed to produce their normal amount this year,” Judy added.
