Of Wine, Beer and Oil!
At a press conference over the state of the industry, beginning of April, the “Organisation Internationale du Vin” (OIV) gave the press some statistics. In 2018 global wine production increased 17% vs 2017 to 292.3 million hectoliter. The main wine producing countries are in order of importance Italy, France, Spain, USA, Australia and Argentina which all together account for 64% of global production. After Spain, China has the second largest vineyard area in the world but 86% of their production is for table grapes. This is similar to the olive industry: olives can end up as table olives or they can be pressed to extract oil. A by-product of winemaking is grape seed oil which is pressed from the seeds of grapes. Annually some 32.000 metric tons of grapeseed oils are produced and consumed in Europe.
Most noteworthy was the OIV statistic on the consumption of wine per country which shows the Portuguese being the biggest consumers of wine. This made us wonder what about the European beer consumption? It is amazing to see the disparity between consuming countries, even in Europe. Two simple products tell us the “European consumer” doesn’t exist. (the OIV statistic is the total wine consumed in a country divided by the population over 15 years old; the beer consumption was measured on the entire population)
Comparing the purchases of bottled or packed oils in retail throughout Europe reinforces those findings. In 2018, in the 28 member-states and Norway, households bought roughly 2 926 000 000 liters of liquid edible oils:
1120 million liters of sunflower seed oil, 990 million liters of olive oil, 400 million liters of rapeseed oil, 120 M corn oil, 33 million liters of soybean oil, 13 million liters of palm olein and 250 million liters other oils. The consumption, although evolving, is still marked by different regional culinary cultures with a high consumption of margarine and butter in the North and vegetable oils in the South. Olive oil is winning market share in the north where rapeseed oil has the traditional preference. Some big and densely populated cities may stand out because of the heterogeneity of its consumers, which obviously affects the culinary habits. But extrapolations and averages don’t work for Europe and/or for oils & fats consumption. The recommendations robot of a global E-supplier will need different algorithms per member-state to recognize the different consumption patterns….
source: national statistics/trade estimates
For a good understanding. These numbers are not the per capita consumption of liquid oils. It is only how much liquid edible oils are bought by households in supermarkets. And so does not count fats, nor what is consumed in bakery products, snacks, or via other prepared foods. Nor does it count the oils & fats consumption out of home in restaurants or via any other catering. If one does the exercise with other foodstuffs such as meat he will get similar findings: the diversity of the European customer.
Next month we will further explore the usage of oils and fats in Europe.
Disclaimer
Unless otherwise mentioned the crude oil values quoted in these documents are prices landed in EU without import duties, handling, storage, financing, refining, packing, transport or any other cost related to bring the product to market. They are used as market trend illustration. Substitution of oils is possible but different oils have different fatty acid profiles and are not all interchangeable for all applications. One can make biodiesel from all oils and fats but one cannot make mayonnaise from coconut oil. This document is exclusively for you and does not carry any right of publication or disclosure. This document or any of its contents may not be distributed, reproduced, or used for any other purpose without the prior written consent of AVENO. The information reflects prevailing market conditions and our present judgement, which may be subject to change. It is based on public information and opinions which come from sources believed to be reliable; however, AVENO doesn’t guarantee the correctness or completeness. This document does not constitute an offer, invitation, or recommendation and may not be understood, as an advice. This document is one of a series of publications undertaken by AVENO and aims at informing broadly a targeted audience about the edible oils & fats market. AVENO’s goal is to keep this information timely and accurate however AVENO accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the given information.
