In recent days there has been a sharp increase in sunflower oil demand in different supermarkets throughout Spain that have led chains such as Mercadona, Consum or Eroski to ration sales to avoid shortages in their premises. It is a consequence derived from the Russian invasion of Ukrainethe country from which a quarter of Spanish imports of seed oil come from.
In relation to this atypical situation, the Spanish Association of Distributors, Supermarkets and Supermarkets (ASEDAS) wanted to launch a statement calling the certain calm ensuring that this increase in demand “affects a very limited number of products related to sunflower oil from Ukraine and there are alternatives both of origin and product”.
Supermarkets and distribution chains have preferred to anticipate possible situations of shortage in their premises like those of us who lived at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when days before confinement products such as toilet paper or flour were sold out, due to the great demand for sunflower oil orders among customers.
Thus, posters have been seen in stores such as Mercadona advising of the limitation of the sale of these oils to a maximum of five liters per person, also remembering that they do not provide wholesale. Others such as Eroski or Consum have begun to ration sales to one bottle per person, while macroa large supplier of hospitality professionals, has also started to limit the supply of one bottle per customer per day.
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fear of one sharp rise in prices and the lack of stock This is the reason that has led private and professional customers to multiply their orders and purchases, although ASEDAS assures that the Spanish chain is “efficient and has sufficient capacity to supply the market with said products.”
Although they point to alternative fats such as pomace or rapeseed oil, the truth is that sunflower oil is a basic product in the hostelry and one of the most used to make fried foods, especially demanded in times like Easter in which the elaboration of fried foods such as traditional French toast or fritters increases.
Pictures | Mark Verch
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