In 2024, Miguel Guzmán, the chief sales officer of Deoleo (a huge olive oil producer which owns brands like Bertolli), said prices were expected to drop by as much as half in early 2025.
That’s because growing conditions had improved in Spain. “The market is expected to begin to stabilise, and normality is expected to be gradually restored as the new harvest progresses and supply increases,” he said at the time.
But over a year on, Filippo Berio director Walter Zanre has said that supermarkets are “taking the mickey” with the prices they expect customers to pay for the product, despite lower wholesale costs.
“We brought prices down twice last year and it’s not all been passed on to the consumer, which is a huge frustration,” he told Sky News.
He added, “The supermarket was surprised at how resilient the shopper was at high prices, so the view is they don’t need to give it all away for nothing”.
In other words, he suggested high prices made them realise just how much more UK shoppers would spend on the product, and they aren’t willing to give that up just because their costs are lower.
We asked the UK Food Council, who said they’d noticed “an upward trend in all food costs” to weigh in on the topic, which they’re “watching closely”.
Why are olive oil prices so high?
“The prediction that prices would halve in 2024 was based on a reasonable expectation,” a UK Food Council spokesperson told us.
“Spain’s harvest was forecast to rebound significantly, and wholesale costs did indeed begin to fall. The problem is that retail prices tend to follow wholesale costs on the way up much faster than they do on the way down.”
To some extent, they added, that can be a reasonable buffer against future risk. In 2022 and 2023, growing conditions in Spain (the biggest producer of olive oil in the world) were so poor that the country only exported half its usual output.
“Supermarkets are understandably cautious – they lock in contracts in advance and factor in hedging costs,” the spokesperson said.
Nonetheless, “the scale of the gap between what brands like Filippo Berio are now charging and what’s sitting on shelf does raise real questions”.
Zanre said that he expected olive oil sales to “fall off a cliff” when they reached their recent price highs. But he added that UK sales only dropped by 20% or so.
“To put it in context: a 500ml bottle of Filippo Berio extra virgin olive oil retailed at around £3.75 in 2022, peaked at roughly £10.50 at the start of 2025, and has since come down to around £7.50 as wholesale prices eased,” the UK Food Council member said.
“That’s still double what it was three years ago, even as the underlying commodity cost has fallen sharply. ONS data from late 2025 showed retail olive oil prices down about 16% year-on-year – meaningful progress, but arguably not proportionate to how far wholesale costs have dropped.”
This is “suggestive”, said the UK Food Council
“Are supermarkets taking advantage of consumers who’ve adjusted to higher prices? It’s difficult to prove intent, but the economics are suggestive. Once shoppers have normalised paying £9 or £10 for a bottle, there’s less commercial pressure to drop back towards £5,” the spokesperson stated.
“That said, increased competition – particularly from Greek and Portuguese oils gaining shelf space – may do more to force prices down than any public pressure campaign.”
Speaking to The Independent, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said that supermarkets are doing their best to pass savings on to customers and “operate on very tight margins, reflecting a market driven by savvy customers.
“Olive oil, like many everyday products, is something shoppers can compare across brands and retailers to take advantage of promotions or switch to alternatives that suit their budget”.
Dining and Cooking