Supermarkets across Spain are reporting thefts of olive oil as demand and prices for “liquid gold” has surged in the Mediterranean.
According to the Financial Times, olive oil is now the most shoplifted product in Spain’s most populous regions, surpassing traditionally popular items for petty thieves such as razor blades, alcohol and ibérico ham.
The perpetrators are believed to be part of a criminal ring of bandits who have discovered a profitable fraud reselling olive oil, sometimes adulterated or diluted, on the lucrative global black market.
Extra virgin olive oil, a staple in Mediterranean diet, used to be commonly found for around €5 a litre (£4.26) but now can cost up to €20.
Extreme weather, drought, and the ongoing battle against the Xylella fastidosa bacterium that has been ravaging olive groves for the last decade, have all affected olive oil production.