... but olive oil price soars to £11 a litre

THE price of a litre bottle of the UK’s top-selling olive oil has surged to more than £11 after scorching temperatures in southern Europe sparked a disastrous olive harvest last year.

Filippo Berio’s Classic Olive Oil now costs £11.05 at online supermarket Ocado, compared to £6 in 2019. It has also passed the £10 mark at Waitrose, with other brands seeing similar rises. Andalucia in Spain, which produces more olive oil than the whole of Italy, saw temperatures of 40C (104F) early in its growing season last spring.

Filippo Berio estimates production will fall by half, with prices likely to rise further.