Three major supermarkets have announced they will be rationing cooking oil. The decision comes as a result of the ongoing shortage of the product, worsened by the conflict occurring between Russia and Ukraine.
The war is threatening food supplies for many countries across the globe, with people relying on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region - known as the "breadbasket of the world". As it stands, most of the UK's sunflower oil comes from Ukraine.
Therefore, supermarkets have started applying restrictions to how much oil customers can buy, as well as increasing the price of what supplies they do have. For instance, the price of cooking oils and fats has gone up by seven per cent and is nearly a quarter more expensive than it was a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said earlier this month.
Tesco is allowing shoppers to purchase only three items each, while Waitrose and Morrisons have restricted shoppers to two items each, the Mirror reports. Meanwhile, a Sainsbury's spokesperson said they have no plans to introduce limits, and Asda has not taken any action yet.
Tesco said in a statement: "We have good availability of cooking oils in stores and online. If a customer is unable to find their preferred oil, we have plenty of alternatives to choose from. To make sure all of our customers can continue to get what they need, we've introduced a temporary buying limit of three items per customer on products from our cooking oil range."
Waitrose stated that they were "closely monitoring the situation and working with our suppliers to ensure customers continue to have a choice of cooking oils".
Sainsbury's and Asda currently have no restrictions on how much cooking oil customers can buy. As well as being a cupboard staple, sunflower oil is also found in hundreds of products from biscuits, crisps, mayonnaise and ready meals. Tom Lock, founder of The British Snack Company, which makes hand-cooked crisps for sale in pubs, told the Guardian that after potatoes, its other vital ingredient was sunflower oil.
He told the paper it was the “industry standard” for snacks and explained that the company had been forced to switch to rapeseed oil.
He said at the moment it was “impossible to get sunflower oil in any quantity” and added that prices would inevitably rise as a result.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
