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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Zoe Wood

Sunflower shortage: why cooking oil has become so expensive

England, London, Supermarket Display of Cooking Oils
The price of sunflower oil jumped 60% after the invasion of Ukraine, leading to higher prices in supermarkets. Composite: Prisma by Dukas Presseagentur GmbH/Alamy/Guardian design

Whether it’s chips, stir-fry or curry on the menu, the financial shock from the war in Ukraine is being felt keenly in the kitchen as cooking oil prices hit record highs.

The cost had already rocketed even before Vladimir Putin’s invasion, but now vegetable oil goes for £1.30 a litre at the supermarket, up 23p, or 22%, on a year ago. Sunflower oil – of which Ukraine and Russia are major producers – is up sharply too, by 17p to £1.34 a litre, according to NielsenIQ Scantrack data.

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