Category: Food

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Sales tax on olive oil is set to zero as price hurts shopper

Olives on a tree seen through dappled sunshine.

Buying olive oil is now a somewhat painful experience.

Formerly a larder staple, thrown into the shopping basket with gay abandon, it´s now a purchase which requires some effort.

More time is now spent examining different brands and prices than ever before. Now we have to pay between ten and 15 euros a litre – ouch.

Inflation may have generally been kept under control in Spain, running at around three per cent, but since September 2020, the price of olive oil has increased by 272%. A five litre can will now cost you over 50 euros.

The figures come from Spain’s agriculture ministry.

The country is the world’s leading producer and exporter of olive oil, but a prolonged drought has dramatically reduced yields, hiking the price. Other European producers are in a similar situation.

The Spanish love their olive oil and last year consumed on average six litres per person, compared to 0.4 litres for international consumers, according to the agriculture ministry.

The rise in prices has made some switch to cheaper cooking oils, such as sunflower, not known, unlike olive oil, as a key part of the Mediterranean diet. 

To help consumers and producers, the government has now decreed that from Monday (1 July, 2024), there will be no sales tax.

The sales tax had previously been cut from 10% to 5% as part of a government anti-inflation package.

From 1 October, 2024, it will be taxed at 2% until the end of the year. From then on, it will be taxed at 4% and be considered a basic food stuff.

Spanish Treasury Minister María Jesús Montero said the decision reflects “…the importance of olive oil in the Mediterranean diet and a healthy lifestyle.”

 

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What fish should we eat to avoid death by mercury poisoning!

Shock headlines in the media have reminded fish eaters that eating too much of one type can present potential health problems.

So what should people do when it comes to buying fish?

Mercury pollution is the problem and theoretically, over-indulging on one type of fish could bring about serious poisoning.

Mercury is a heavy metal, very toxic and is digested by fish and seafood that is consumed by humans.

The Fish Safety Agence (AESAN) has issued a number of warnings, particularly relevant to children and pregnant women.

The advice from AESAN centres on the types of fish available from the shops.

The belief is that large and predatory fish, such as swordfish and bluefin tuna, accumulate more mercury than smaller ones.

The concerns have led RASFF, the European Food Safety Alert System, to notify the Spanish authorities of the presence of mercury levels higher than the legal limit allowed in some slices of frozen swordfish.

This a modern-day paradox, as fish is recommended as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Eating fish is crucial, say the experts, as it helps maintain cardiovascular health. It is also essential for the embryonic development and good growth in children. It provides proteins of high biological value, vitamins A, D and B12, iodine and selenium.

So the rule of thumb is to alternate the type of fish people eat, with more sensitive groups avoiding the consumption of some types of fish altogether.

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Warnings over decaf coffee

There’s bad news for those who choose to drink decaf coffee for health reasons.

Decaf coffee, or descafeinado as it’s known in Spain, is a possible chemical hazard.

It all comes down to the way that the caffeine is removed from the pure coffee. 

Decaf is a very popular drink, with many combining drinking caf and decaf throughout their day. It is especially popular at lunchtime and evenings, as people try to avoid the stimulant effect of the caffeine which, of course, in the morning, is the whole point of coffee.

The Spanish have been generally slow to embrace decaf coffee, but it’s hugely popular in many countries, including the US, where over 26 million Americans are said to drink it.

Coffee comes from coffee beans which are grown on a plant and even though there´s some talk of synthetic versions, heaven forbid, the production of it is still on the right side of processed food. The beans are roasted and ground to produce the coffee grounds.

When it comes to the decaf version, things get a little more complicated.

A lot of decaf is produced by effectively cleaning the coffee beans with a chemical solvent, in most cases methylene chloride. Other chemicals involved include benzene, ethylene dichloride and trichloroethylene.

Even the name of these strikes a little bit of fear into us mere mortals. 

I was never any good at chemistry, but this collection of chemicals don´t sound that good for food, or drinks. 

For example, methylene chloride is a chemical which is used in many industrial processes to clean items, especially paint. It is also used to degrease metals. 

The US government is now looking at this, worried that the use of the chemical is dangerous for humans and maybe carcinogenic. 

It doesn’t have to be like this and there are alternative methods of decaffeinating coffee, such as the Swiss Water method. This method involves soaking the pre-roasted bean, the green bean, with water over a long period of time, which sees the caffeine seep out naturally.

So, it might be a good idea to check out how your favourite brands produce their decaf coffee.

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Medieval manor hides within Barcelona chocolate factory

Coffee beans spilling out from a cup.

Archaeologists in Barcelona have unearthed a 14th century medieval manor which was hidden within a major chocolate factory created over 500 years later.

The remains of the 19th century factory, poured over by archaeologists, has revealed walls with arches and doors from a medieval home .

The house went through a number of iterations, from home, to hostel and then chocolate factory and workshop.

The team of archaeologists discovered a number of artifacts, including plates and large ceramic vessels.

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Coffee is getting more expensive

Coffee beans

The humble cup of coffee is not so humble nowadays, a fact which will shock drinkers in Spain and beyond.

The price of a cup of coffee is set to rise even further than the highs seen last February.

Back then, the price of coffee in Spanish shops rose by 23% compared to the same month in 2021. The figures come from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The coffee market is predicted to climb higher during the next crop cycle.

The US Department of Agriculture reported that the global demand-supply balance for coffee beans is currently looking fragile.

The trouble stems from what’s left at the end of the last cycle – the 2023-2024 season – that can be used in the following season.

It is reckoned that at the start of the 2023-2024 season, there was barely 16% of future consumption available. Compare this to 33% which was available in the 2005-2006 season.

As to what we’re likely to consume in this season, it comes in at 170 million 60kg bags, higher than any season for the last 20 years. In 2005-2006, the figure was 125 million bags.

Less rainfall is behind the reason for reduced inventories, as both Vietnam and Brazil have been hit by poor growing conditions.

Fears are that the current crop growing in both countries could be hit again by the weather.

Market observers predict that coffee producers might panic before the crop is harvested and push up prices whatever happens with the next harvest.

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Cava production decimated by drought in Catalonia

The lack of water in Spain’s Catalonia region is having real implications for the local wine industry and major player Freixenet has signalled it will have to potentially place its workers on short-time.

Grupo Freixenet, which is based in Barcelona and is owned by the German group Henkell and the Ferrer family, is famous for its cava brand.

It expects the continuing drought to cut production capacity by 30%, forcing it to present a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE) for more than 600 workers.

The ERTE was legally justified due to “force majeure,” meaning it has had to take the exceptional action. 

Last year’s rainfall plummeted by half in the area and 80 million bottles were lost.

The proposal has been sent to the Catalan Generalitat and will be passed onto the workers’ unions. 

The group said in a statement: “The measure, implemented as an exercise of responsibility, aims to guarantee the operation of the business and preserve employability to be able to face external causes and force majeure caused by the serious drought.

“Seeing that global demand for cava is booming and that we cannot produce enough bottles to adequately satisfy it in the short term, the situation is really complicated at all levels.”

The group has 778 workers, with 615 affected by the order. Much will now depend on how much it rains over the coming months.

Despite the water worries, the group posted an increase in turnover for 2023 of 4%.

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Has coffee been around longer than the modern form of humans?

With experts now saying coffee is 600,000 years old, it’s sobering to think that the modern form of humans only evolved around 200,000 years ago.

Okay, human life has been around for around six million years, but popping into Starbucks for a skinny latte was maybe the last thing on their minds.

So how do we know coffee has a longer history than we originally throught? Well, it comes down to how long a coffee plant has been growing on the planet. Researchers built a family tree based on the coffea arabica plant, which supplies our most favorite type of coffee, and found the species evolved over half-a-million years ago via the natural crossbreeding of two other coffee species.

The researchers main objective was to discover more about the plants and help protect them from pests and climate change.

Wild coffee plants were first observed in Ethiopia. But as to when the coffee bean was first roasted and brewed to produce a cup of coffee, this was thought to be in the 15th century in Yemen. Two centuries later and legend has it that Indian monk Baba Budan smuggled some raw coffee beans back to his homeland, and Starbucks was born (well, to be precise, Starbucks started in 1971 in the US, so a little off).

Arabica is the world’s most popular coffee flavour, accounting for around 70% of the market.

The journal Nature Genetic published the study which was co-led by University of Buffalo.

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Spanish olive oil giants merge

The world’s most successful seller of olive oil, Deoleo, and the world’s largest producer of the oil, Hojiblanca, are to merge.

The deal is set after CNC, Spain’s competition authority, gave the go-ahead following Deoleo agreeing to certain undertakings, including not to share market sensitive information.

Deoleo markets three of the globe’s top-four olive oil companies: Bertolli, Carapelli and Carbonell.

Hojiblanca has over 95 co-ops and is said to have around a 10% stake in Deoleo.

The idea is to create a group is a leader of the entire process, from production to shop.

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Spanish exports targeted by French farmers

French old car.

As protests from French farmers pick up pace throughout the country, the Spanish are finding themselves at the sharp end of the dispute.

The farmers might be blockading their motorways, but they are directly taking their arguments to Spanish hauliers and companies.

There have been a number of incidents where one of the main borders between Spain and France, at La Jonquera (which passes over the southern Pyrenees), has been blocked by French farmers. In some incidents, Spanish lorries have been stopped and their cargoes destroyed. There has been thousands of euros damage to loads, lorries and equipment.   

Cargoes target included wine, vegetables and fruit. 

French farmers are incensed that cheaper Spanish goods are undermining their own markets.

The Spanish government has lodged formal complaints, saying the situation is “…absolutely unacceptable.” Whilst the government supports protest, it has to be out violent means, or coercion. 

The start of the year is a key period for Spanish exports, directed at France. France also offers a through route to many other countries.  

Back in 2023, January witnessed exports of 1,240,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables, which had a value of $1.6bn.