Supermarkets have limited sales of cooking oil, after concerns over shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.

 

The latest supermarket research has shown that shoppers have been stockpiling cooking oil because of concerns about the shortage.

Depleted stocks can now be seen on supermarket shelves, in scenes reminiscent of panic buying of flour, eggs and toilet roll during the pandemic. A number of supermarkets, including Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose, have restricted the number of bottles shoppers can buy to ensure there are enough to go round.

A sign in Asda reads: “Due to low availability each customer can only purchase 2 items, were working hard to keep our shelves stocked for everyone.

“We’ve always been proud to serve our customers with great items, and we’d ask all our customers to please shop responsibly, so we can help make sure there is enough to go round.”

Why is there no sunflower oil in the shops?

The Ukraine and Russia account for about 60% of world production of sunflower oil, so the disruption to exports caused by the war has resulted in a supply shock.

Millions of tonnes of sunflower oil earmarked for foreign buyers is trapped in Ukraine, triggering a scramble to source alternative vegetable oils, of which there are not enough to go round.

The situation is acute in the UK as most of its sunflower oil comes from Ukraine. Before the crisis, sunflower oil represented about a fifth of the cooking oil market by value in UK supermarkets and 44% by volume, according to the data firm NielsenIQ.

When will supplies return to normal?

The situation is unlikely to recover until at least the end of the summer, says Gary Lewis, of oil importer KTC Edibles, when more of the new rapeseed oil crop becomes available to buy. “There maybe some more supplies of EU and Argentine sunflower oil in the market in the next few months, but it will still be limited,” he says.

In normal times shoppers buy cooking oil every eight to 10 weeks, so demand may start to slow down in the coming weeks, leading to fewer gaps on shelves, with would-be buyers potentially deterred by the higher price. According to Kantar, consumers are paying 20% more for a litre of vegetable oil this year, and 16% more for sunflower oil.

Consumers will start to see a different mix of cooking oils as retailers attempt to plug gaps, with more soy bean and corn oils, as well as vegetable oil blends made from rapeseed and soy in an attempt to keep prices down as much as possible.