The claim
A photo taken in an Italian supermarket suggests that the price per liter of sunflower oil in Italy is around 50 cents. Apparently you only pay 2.49 for five liters.
Our conclusion
This assumption is wrong. If you look at the photo more closely, the price is based on one liter and not five. The prices for sunflower oil are quite comparable to those in Germany.
“Oil on offer here in Italy 5 liters 2.49€ and the liter of diesel approx. 1.70€ We are just being taken for a ride in Dummland ,” is the text on a picture that was taken in a supermarket in Italy. This post has been very well received on Facebook and has already been shared over 3,000 times.
2.49 euros for 5 liters would mean a liter price of less than 50 cents. And this is exactly where it helps to take a closer look. Because the price of 2.49, which has been so generously and conspicuously circled here, is that for a liter of sunflower oil.
And not, as the posting suggests, for 5 liters. Taking a quick look at the abacus, we know that you pay 12.45 euros for the 5 liter bottle.
“Ribassato” means “lowered”. The price listed here is a promotional price and was valid from August 8th to 31st. Under the red squiggle that was taken in the photo you can see “-17”, which probably corresponds to a price reduction of 17 percent during the offer period. Outside of this promotion, you shell out around 3 euros for a liter of sunflower oil. For the 5 liter bottle this is 15 euros.
However, what is also common at some discounters is that prices are displayed above and not below the goods, as you can see documentary from ZDF In the photo from the Facebook post, we see smaller bottles at the bottom of the supermarket shelf. The price labeling could therefore generally refer to the smaller 1 liter bottles.
Comparison to Germany
The colleagues from Correctiv looked for some current market prices for sunflower oil in Italy and Germany for comparison.
In Italy there were offers for 2.75 euros per liter , 4.64 euros per liter and 2.20 euros per liter . The cheapest was a special offer where you pay
9.45 euros for five liters In this case, one liter costs 1.89 euros. Here we are generally very far away from a liter price in the 50 cent range.
In Germany the prices at 1.99 euros or 2.39 euros per liter certainly comparable to those in Italy. We have now also looked at Austria, where prices are 3.49 euros or 4.29 euros per liter . At a discounter, vegetable oil (from rapeseed and sunflower) is offered for 3.25 euros per liter .
86 percent of imported sunflower oil in Europe comes from Ukraine. An increase in the price of vegetable oils has already been observed since the Corona crisis. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there was a price high in March , where the price tripled compared to 2019. It has now fallen slightly again and is now about twice as high as in recent years.
And the price of diesel?
The Facebook post also states that in Italy you pay 1.70 euros per liter for diesel. According to a list from the ADAC from August 25, 2022, an average price of 1.74 euros per liter of diesel in Italy is given. Compared to Germany (1.99 euros per liter), that's a difference of 25 cents.
However, petrol and diesel prices in different countries depend on different factors such as different taxation. In Italy there is also a fuel discount of around 30 cents per liter, which is valid until September 20th.
Source: Correctiv , dpa , Statista , RP Online
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )