Disgruntled customers have taken to social media to slam the 'scam' that is the price of olive oil in supermarkets.

Back in 2022, the price of Lurpak butter became symbolic of the UK's spiralling cost of living crisis. And now, history seems to have repeated itself.

UK households should expect to pay up to £16 for a two-litre bottle of olive oil, amid rising grocery and food inflation.

This is a significant increase from the £7 that the same bottle cost two years ago.

The average price of a bottle of olive oil has risen by 89% in the past two years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted a picture of a litre bottle of Tesco's own olive oil, with a £7.90 price displayed. The post reads: "Emptied my ISA for olive oil x".

Another user quote Tweeted and joked: "Next time I go to Tesco, I am going to look the security guard dead in his eye and say don’t be a hero bro."

Someone else said: "That olive oil is not even pure. Pure olive oil stay in dark bottles. They are scamming us while raising the prices"/.

 


Tesco has said that price pressures on grocers has eased, as the supermarket chain reported a sales rise of 4.4 per cent to £68.2bn in the year to February 24, an increase of £2.86bn from the same period a year before.

Tesco's chief executive, Ken Murphy, noted the price rise had hit customers hard, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but has since “lessened substantially”.

He added: “However we are conscious that things are still difficult for many customers, so we have worked hard to reduce prices and have now been the cheapest full-line grocer for well over a year."