Why can’t we find sunflower oil in some supermarkets anymore?

Empty shelves in some supermarkets. Whether on social networks or in real life, testimonials from French people who have not found sunflower oil in recent weeks are pouring in. “In our stores, we are witnessing occasional stock shortages”, recognizes Thierry Desouches, spokesperson for Système U. Same story with Olivier Dauvers, specialist in mass distribution: the filling of the spokes is not at the maximum and that the entry-level oils are often no longer available. »

NielsenIQ, panelist on sales in large surfaces, even provides figures: “From February 21 to March 27, availability problems in the oil department increased by 37% compared to the weekly average over the previous 5 weeks”, we says analyst Laurent Beneditti. Contacted by 20 minutesCarrefour, Auchan and Leclerc declined to answer our questions.

Problematic precautionary purchases

It is clear that rapeseed oil is also absent subscribers in many departments: “It’s a classic phenomenon in consumption: when a product becomes scarce, the phenomenon affects those who look like it”, says Olivier Andrault, food policy officer at UFC-Que Choisir.

The first factor explaining this situation is the war in Ukraine: “Russia and Ukraine represent 80% of world exports of sunflower oil. And France imports two-thirds of its supplies from Ukraine,” explains Bercy. “However, for two or three weeks, the media have been talking about the risk of tensions on supplies. This led to precautionary purchases, when there were enough stocks if consumption was normal. There is no shortage of sunflower oil in France”, indicates the entourage of the Minister of Agriculture to 20 minutes. “We are witnessing the same phenomenon as during the first confinement, during which people rushed on the toilet paper”, adds Thierry Desouches.

An uncertainty after the summer

No worries in the kitchen, then, but what will happen in the coming months? “For sunflower oil, our stocks go until June”, assured the president of the strategic committee E.Leclerc, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, on BFMTV. The supply problem, if it arises, could arise after the summer. “Sowing started in April in Ukraine and harvesting is done at the end of the summer. Given the current situation, we don’t know if farmers will be able to produce as much as before and if they won’t encounter more problems refining and storing the oil,” says Thierry Desouches. It is also difficult to predict whether it will be possible to get goods out of a country whose trade routes are now largely cut off.

The food industry, which uses sunflower oil in many processed products, is also on the alert. “She will probably have to revise some of these recipes to use more rapeseed or peanut oil. And inform consumers to avoid certain allergies in those who are subject to them, ”says Olivier Andrault. As for the prices of certain oils, “it is to be feared that they will increase if demand exceeds supply,” adds Olivier Dauvers. In the meantime, an appeal to reason is launched to French consumers: “We must buy oil in reasonable quantities and not stock up so as not to amplify a phenomenon which currently has no place”, recommends do we at the Ministry of Agriculture.