Walter Zanre, the boss of Filippo Berio, accused supermarkets of failing to pass falling olive oil prices onto consumers and taking extra margin for themselves. The British Retail Consortium has responded to these accusations, with Andrew Opie, its director of food and sustainability, stating that retailers work hard to pass on cost savings to customers wherever possible and operate on very tight margins, as confirmed by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The price of olive oil has fallen in recent months, with a 500ml bottle of Filippo Berio olive oil costing around £7.50, down from £10.50 at the start of 2025 but up from £3.75 in 2022. Olive oil prices surged in recent years due to drought and heatwaves in olive-growing areas like Italy, Greece, and Spain. Inflation of olive oil prices has fallen from 11.2% to minus 10.4% over the past year, marking a more-than 20% swing.
Spain is the biggest producer of olive oil in the world. Spain's olive oil production fell from nearly 1.5 million tonnes in 2021-2022 to 666,000 tonnes in 2022-2023, and 854,000 in 2023-2024. The International Olive Council estimates that Spain will produce 1.37 million tonnes of olive oil this year. Supermarket bosses have warned they are facing intense pressures due to costs from the Iran war and domestic tax burdens, and have called on the government to help avoid raising prices.