Empty shelves, limitations for pasta and yeast: images that particularly shaped the beginning of the corona pandemic are back. But during the war in Ukraine, cooking oil is now being hoarded in Germany instead of toilet paper. “Empty shelves can be seen in some regions of the country,” said Christian Böttcher, spokesman for the Federal Association of the German Food Trade (BVLH). Sunflower oil and flour in particular are currently in high demand.
Retail chains can also confirm bottlenecks for certain foods. Edeka, for example, reports that there could be bottlenecks with certain products. “This applies in particular to cooking oils, some of which also come from Ukraine,” said a spokeswoman. In cooperation with the suppliers, however, an adequate supply for daily needs is ensured. “There is still no reason to create additional stocks.”
Aldi Süd also feels that the cooking oils are missing. “We are currently seeing increased demand in our branches, especially for sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and olive oil,” said the discounter. How the stocks will develop is not yet foreseeable. “Since the corona pandemic, the global markets have been very dynamic, especially the situation on the raw materials market, but also in global logistics.” But not all retailers see a bottleneck in cooking oils. The drugstore chain dm reports that demand for diapers, baby food and hygiene items in particular is currently fluctuating.
The competitor Rewe also appealed to buy products only in normal household quantities. “The production quantities and delivery logistics of the entire retail food chain are only geared towards sales of this magnitude.” Lidl also pointed this out.
At the beginning of March, the Association of the Oilseed Processing Industry in Germany (Ovid) warned that sunflower oil could become scarce due to the war in Ukraine. “In the medium term, there will be problems because Ukraine is the world’s most important exporter of sunflower oil,” said a spokesman for the Association of the Oilseed Processing Industry in Germany (Ovid). Ukraine accounts for 51 percent of global sunflower oil exports, Russia 27 percent. That could lead to a shortage in this country, because Germany covers 94 percent of its needs with imports.
“The sunflower oil that is processed in the oil mills will be enough for the next few weeks. But at some point nothing will follow,” is the association’s forecast. However, consumers could use other cooking oils. “There is no supply bottleneck at all for rapeseed oil.”
And it’s not just in Germany that panic buying occurs. According to the German press agency, many supermarkets in Spain reported empty shelves. Above all, sunflower oil and flour, but also pasta, oatmeal and legumes were partially bought empty.
No shortage of grain for flour
The Association of the Grain, Milling and Starch Industry (VGMS) observes that flour is also hoarded in addition to oil. After all, Ukraine and Russia are considered the breadbasket of Europe. Nevertheless, there is no reason for panic buying, says managing director Peter Habeck. “The supply of flour is secured. The mills have stored enough grain to reliably supply bakeries and supermarkets with flour.” He points out that Germany does not import bread grain from Ukraine and Russia because enough grain is grown in Germany. “The degree of self-sufficiency for wheat in Germany is around 130 percent.”
Although the supply chains for flour and rapeseed oil are not at risk, the products are still hoarded. The association spokesman Christian Böttcher from the BVLH sees parallels to the corona pandemic here. “Perhaps there is a fear that there will once again be no staple foods,” he says. When shopping, you take flour and pasta with you in addition to the sunflower oil.