Sainsbury’s and Co-op have said they are also facing cooking oil supply issues, just days after Morrisons and Waitrose put measures in place to limit sales.
Two of the UK’s leading supermarkets – Morrisons and Waitrose – officially began rationing consumer sales of cooking oil last week, as UK supplies continue to be disrupted following the war in Ukraine.
The lack of sunflower oil has seen demand increase for other cooking oils, which led Morrisons and Waitrose to put measures in place to limit sales to two bottles of oil per customer, both online and in-store.
While Sainsbury’s and The Co-op have not placed official limits on the amount customers can buy, they have admitted they are also sealing with supply chain difficulties.
Russia and Ukraine are both major players in the global sunflower oil market. Together, they account for approximately 60% of global sunflower oil production and approximately 80% of global sunflower oil exports.
Supplies of have been disrupted since Ukraine was invaded by Russia seven weeks ago, as the war caused difficulties for suppliers shipping products via the Black Sea.
Read more: Waitrose and Morrisons ration sunflower oil due to war in Ukraine
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 that while product shortages continue to be a “huge challenge”, it is working with suppliers to find solutions to shortages of the common household staple.
According to Mintec, which monitors price data across the globe, sunflower oil prices in the EU remain at unprecedented levels.
Prices started climbing in early March after Russia announced it was implementing an export quota of 1.5 million tonnes on sunflower oil and were up by 50% year-on-year on 7 April.
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