Pricey olive oil: Why dealers are asking customers to bring their own containers
The price of olive oil has surged, forcing some retailers to shift toward wholesaling
It wasn't long ago that bottles of top-quality Greek olive oil occupied an entire table in Anna Arsenis's shop, Karpos Nuts & Fruits in London's Wortley Village.
She still sells the top quality olive oil and uses it to make the spanakopita, salads and meatballs she sells, but it's been difficult to get from her supplier in smaller bottles, and that's all because of the price.
"The people who bring olive oil from Greece they hesitate to bring in small quantities," she said. "They bring in large containers, 18 kilos, to keep the cost down."
Just over a year ago Arsenis could sell half-litre bottles of extra virgin olive oil for $16. Now, because she's paying more from her supplier when she can get it, the price is $28.
To help keep the quality high and the price affordable to her customers, she's now pumping out olive oil from large containers into smaller bottles customers bring to the store.
A number of factors have driven up the cost of olive oil over the past two years.
Dry growing conditions have made for a poor olive crops overseas, higher transportation and packaging costs have combined to push the price to dizzying heights. With customers chasing fewer bottles, suppliers are reluctant to ship smaller bottles for fear the price of not buying bulk will be too high for retailers to sell.
It's meant retailers like Arsensis have had to change the way they do business. To save a few bucks, she has customers bring in their own bottles so they can siphon off a larger container at $23 a litre.
"It's a good price compared to the bottle," she said. "People have responded very well because they know that quality is excellent."
While she's happy to do it, it's an extra step that takes time away from cooking her stuffed peppers and other meals she sells. Because so many of those foods use olive oil, the prices of those meals have had to go up up too,
"I'm cooking twice a week homemade food, and people come from all over the city," she said. "People consider the price and I don't sell as much food as before. Greeks like olive oil and we use it a lot."
Rising prices force business model shift
Missy Haggarty owns Olive-Me & Co., a London-based company that imports and sells high-quality olive oil.
Her company is a cross-Canada operation and higher prices have forced her to shift toward more of a wholesale model, a change that began just two months ago.
"Right now consumption is outranking production," she said. "I think what people don't understand is that it's still an agricultural product, you have good seasons and poor seasons."
Haggarty said the cost of packaging is a huge factor pushing up prices.
"Prior to COVID, we were able to get things like the dark green bottles that protect olive oil, we were able to get those at a fraction of the price," she said. "The price of glass has quadrupled and at times, bottles have been very scarce."
Haggarty is also now offering a discount to customers who bring in their own containers to fill with olive oil because the price of bottles has surged so much.
Haggarty said if the cost of shipping and packaging comes down, shoppers will see a dip in olive oil prices.
"The producers can only do so much," she said.
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