by Juan Vilar
Strategic consultant
Consumers are less likely to use olive oil and consequently purchases are reduced. These are the conclusions that emerge from the study presented by the University of Jaén through its Consumer Observatory.
The study, carried out tbetween the months of January and September of this year, took into account all types of oils and fats consumed in Spain in supermarkets and hypermarkets. They have been analyzed 63 hypermarkets it's almost 250 supermarkets, for a number of customer families of over one million. Hyper and super together represent a market share for the oils and fats category equal to 68% of demand. More generally the sample had a high degree of representativeness, counting almost 5% of the total sales volume of olive oils sold in the country, in supermarkets and hypermarkets, and the same percentage if we talk about the sales surface area.
The study showed that in the first 9 months of the year there was a average drop in demand for refined olive oils of 10,2%: this decline was higher in larger volume containers, such as 5 liter PET, which decreased by 24,68% Pomace oil he saw instead increase its demand by more than 86% for the period examined. THE prices increased by an average of 40%, with higher levels for larger volume containers.
If we refer to thesunflower oil, demand grew by 21,20%, while the price of 31,12%.
In the virgin oil sector, demand increased by 2,14%. TO the demand for non-extra virgin virgins has grown, which rose by 68,46%. The, extra virgin, vice versa, they recorded a drop of more than 10,6%. The average cumulative price increase is 31,12%.
So one occurred transformation of consumer preferences for olive oils, moving towards virgins, instead of on extra virgin olive oils, and also towards pomace oils, mostly in small formatsthe. In short, the purchase is segmented, measuring its use, purchasing more online. Although the loyalty towards olive oil is solid, it is starting to give way in demand in favor of other olive oils, as in the case of pomace (but also sunflower oil).
If we analyze internal consumption (households, hotel sector and food industry) between January and September it was recorded a drop in consumption of almost 200 thousand tons, equal to 43,90% in less than the previous year.
