Olive pomace oil displaces extra virgin olive oil in Spain

Pomace oil at €20 for five liters: the shopping basket degrades

Olive pomace oil has moved from industrial backrooms to Spanish supermarket shelves, and it is already scarce in some chains, according to forum discussions. Price explains almost everything: €20 for five liters, compared to the €9.25 that a liter of extra virgin olive oil (EVO) now costs in one chain, according to a participant. When the price gap exceeds double, choice ceases to be a choice.

What stands out is not the product —it has been on the market for decades and many bars use it for frying— but the pace. From barely being sold to disappearing from shelves due to demand within weeks, according to those who have closely trinc the category. Impoverishment is no longer measured only by salaries. It is measured by what goes into the pan.

What is olive pomace oil and where does it come from?

It is extracted from skins and residues left after oil extraction, along with decanted water: what remains once the olive has been pressed. Extracting it requires powerful presses and high heating, because it works on material that has undergone several previous extractions. Hence the fruta as a coarse byproduct that the category carries.

Industry memory provides an uncomfortable precedent: in the 1990s there was an attempt to pass off pomace oil as extra virgin, and its presence in bar fryers is long known. The new aspect is the display and the price. The product is placed well below EVO, and this gap is what has filled and emptied shelves in record time.

Is pomace oil healthier than sunflower oil for frying?

For frying, pomace oil withstands heat well, although less than sunflower oil and with a less neutral flavor. This is the criterion used by those who cook daily: if the idea is to replace extra virgin only for frying, sunflower oil is cheaper and performs equally. In terms of smoke point, refined oils exceed cold-pressed virgin oils, with refined avocado oil having the highest.

The other axis is fatty acid composition. Rapeseed oil hovers around 28% polyunsaturated fats, with an internal ratio of 2:5; sunflower oil presents an imbalance of 128:1; olive oil has about 75% monounsaturated fats and only 12% polyunsaturated fats. Hence the argument that the problem with seed oils is not the amount of omega-3, but their proportion, and that this omega-3 is not equivalent to the DHA and EPA acids found in fish.

Regarding alpechin, the wastewater from the mill, there is a warning that pomace oil drags it along. No analysis in the source material supports this claim.

Why is olive oil so expensive?

Drought is the undisputed factor. The historical average rainfall in olive groves, around 470 liters per year, has plummeted with recent dry years, and less water means fewer olives. The second front is speculation, and here the analysis splits. One view holds that investment funds involved in agricultural holdings are exploiting shortages to drive up prices; the counterargument is that investing in agriculture is just another activity and prices are set by the market.

A technical argument is added: agricultural contracts are closed in advance, so producers assume margin risks or even losses. The very definition of speculation is disputed: moving a good from a moment of low demand to one of high demand, nothing more. For some, it is original sin; for others, the mechanism that guarantees supply.

Moreover, some anticipate a second inflationary hit: oil above $100, diesel at €3, and VAT increases on gas and electricity. With this picture, pomace oil is not a trend, it is an escape route.

Living standards are measured by the basket, not cars

For one participant, food is the most honest indicator of a country's living standard: what people eat, with what quality, and at what price. Cars seen on the street or buildings say nothing about that. The shift has its logic: first, a low-cost model leads sales, then products previously sold only in low-income countries arrive in the shopping basket.

Another forum user summarizes the everyday contrast: someone spends €10 on a cocktail that lasts twenty minutes but complains about a bottle of oil that lasts a month. The hierarchy of priorities has inverted. And while EVO disappears from some shelves without restocking, carts are rebuilt with private label brands and low-range canned tuna.

The point where the analysis stalls is always the same: nobody disputes that extra virgin has become expensive and that pomace oil fills the gap, but there is no agreement on how much of the phenomenon is drought, how much is speculation, and how much is simply less disposable income per family. The interesting question is no longer which oil to buy. It is how much higher olive oil must go before pomace oil also stops looking cheap.