A picture of empty shelf where sunflower oil would be in Paris
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Supermarkets have begun rationing cooking oils because supplies have been disrupted over the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is the largest exporter of sunflower oil in the world, and supplies a big part of the British market.
Supplies of the oil have been disrupted since the invasion of Ukraine, with the war causing difficulties shipping the products through the Black Sea.
This means increased demand for other types of cooking oil, reports the Daily Express - forcing Morrisons and Waitrose to limit how many of the products shoppers can buy.
A statement from Waitrose said: “We want to ensure customers continue to have a choice of cooking oil so we are asking them to buy no more than two units each.”
The restrictions are also in place for online shopping, with a message reading: “To help more customers get the goods they need you can only order two from the category.”
While other retailers have not placed limits on the amount customers can buy, they have admitted supply difficulties for sunflower oil.
Sainsbury’s said in a statement: “It has been widely reported that the conflict in Ukraine is affecting a number of supply chains, including sunflower oil.
“We are working closely with our suppliers to make sure customers continue to have cooking oils to choose from, including olive oil, vegetable oil, and rapeseed oil.”
The Co-op has also said it is working with suppliers to find solutions to shortages of the common household staple.
According to Mintec, which provides global commodity data, sunflower oil prices in the EU still remain at unprecedented levels.
They started climbing in the first week of March after Russia announced it was implementing an export quota of 1.5 million tonnes on sunflower oil, effective from this Friday.
Since then, prices have dropped a little as customers switch to other oils, but remain up by 50% year-on-year.
