Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

UPDATE 2 (1/10/24) After the shortage, I finally saw lots of bottles of olive oil (100% Italian Presidents Reserve) on the shelf back in stock at Trader Joe’s (NYC/Amsterdam 93 St) However I did get a bit of sticker shock when I saw how much it went up. Its was $12 (up from about $8 the last time I got it?). The cheaper one was now just $1 less.

Note: (1/24/24) They seem to have lowered the price down a little from $12 to $11 for the Premium Extra Virgin 32 oz bottle with the spigot (1/25/24).

(12/31/23) What’s going on with olive oil at Trader Joe’s?! Have you had trouble recently finding olive oil on the shelves at Trader Joe’s? Yesterday at my Trader Joe’s (72 St NYC) I saw bare shelves where the Italian President’s Reserve EVOO would be with signs saying “Coming Back”. Yikes! What’s up with this? Well Trader Joe’s and others are experiencing shortages from suppliers in Europe. Unfortunately some countries especially Spain and Italy, have experienced two years with really bad weather, including brutally hot summers, drought (then floods) wildfires, the gamut…. and we’re seeing the results now with shortages of olives and olive oil.

The only bottles of EVOO I saw yesterday on the shelf at Trader Joe’s was the California EVOO. I bought one to tide me over for awhile. Its the same price ($7.49) yet half the size of the larger (32 oz) bottle of Trader Joe’s President’s Reserve Italian EVOO I was hoping to buy.

Expect higher prices for olive oil in the coming year….

https://parade.com/food/trader-joes-olive-oil-shortage

UPDATE: (I saw a few bottles of Spanish EVOO there a few days later)

WASHINGTON POST

“Olive oil prices reach record highs as Spain’s harvest is halved

Extreme weather decimates major producers’ yields and some countries ban exports

Extreme heat, wildfires and drought have decimated much of the world’s olive harvest yet again, driving prices for olive oil to a record high of $9,000 per metric ton.

Most home cooks aren’t buying olive oil by the ton. But retail olive oil prices in the United States have risen in recent years because of extreme weather in olive-oil-producing countries, growing 12.5 percent this year atop an 8.8 percent increase in 2022, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm.

Spain, the source of half the world’s olive oil supply and the global price setter, in May reported a drop in production of 48 percent compared with last year. Concerns intensified following the release of the most recent olive oil report from the Spanish government, which showed dwindling supplies in August.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/06/olive-oil-extreme-weather/