In Spain, the world’s largest producer of olive oil, supermarkets are locking up bottles of this basic cooking oil as prices rise and theft increases. One-liter bottles of extra virgin olive oil sell for 14.5 euros ($15.77) in some supermarkets, which has pushed olive oil into the category of products on which retailers attach safety labels. , along with liquors, cosmetics and household appliances.
“We are seeing a significant increase in theft,” says Rubén Navarro, general director of the Tu Super supermarket chain, which has 30 stores in the Spanish region of Andalusia. “Olive oil has become an ideal product to steal.” The price of olive oil, officially 8 euros per liter, has soared 150% in Spain in the last two years, due to a scorching drought in the south that has reduced the olive harvest. According to Navarro, criminal gangs are stealing the oil to resell it.
Since September, Tu Super has chained large 5-liter bottles of olive oil and padlocked them on the shelves to prevent theft. “It is a crazy and extreme measure, but it has worked,” says Navarro.
Your Super is not the only one that has reinforced security: in some Carrefour and Auchan supermarkets in Madrid, one-liter bottles carry security labels that must be removed by staff. STC, a Spanish company that offers anti-theft solutions to retailers, has increased supermarket orders 12-fold this summer for devices to protect olive oil bottles, managing partner Salvador Cañones told Reuters.
Spanish police have also discovered thefts of olive oil from oil mills and in October arrested two people as part of an investigation into the theft of 56 tons of extra virgin olive oil.
Spanish families often buy olive oil in bulk for cooking. Among the world’s largest consumers of olive oil, they have already significantly reduced their consumption: sales volume of extra virgin olive oil fell 17% in the 12 months to September, according to NielsenIQ.
Although theft of olives and oil has especially increased, the supermarkets’ measures also reflect a broader increase in shoplifting. The main Spanish business organization, CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations), noted that in 2022 there had been a 30% increase in repeated thefts directed at retailers, and 12% more so far in 2023.
In Spain, theft of items worth less than 400 euros is not punished unless it is a repeat offense. Navarro said shoplifters are taking advantage of fewer staff in stores and shoplifters’ often abusive behavior toward workers is exacerbating the labor shortage. “Our own workers live in fear after the robberies… some even end up quitting their jobs,” he said.
