The most popular product among shoplifters has been named: the choice of criminals was surprising

In Spain, “liquid gold” is most often stolen from supermarket shelves.

Olive oil is becoming the most sought-after item for shoplifters in Spain.

Olive oil has become the most stolen product in supermarkets across Spain, according to new data, organized crime groups are targeting the “liquid gold” for resale on the black market, writes The Guardian.

Olive oil is now the best-selling product in stores in regions that account for 70% of the country’s population, the Financial Times reports.

Supermarkets have gone so far as to chain large five-litre bottles of olive oil together and secure them to shelves with padlocks to prevent theft, while other stores provide bottles with security tags that must be removed by staff after payment has been made, The Guardian notes. .

Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil, but Europe has nearly run out of local supplies after extreme weather damaged a second year of harvest. Global production is expected to fall to 2.4 million tons, less than last year’s harvest and well below global demand of about 3 million tons, according to the International Olive Council.

With shortages across the Mediterranean, similar olive oil thefts are occurring in Greece.

In Spain, prices have more than quadrupled in the last four years. Buyers who four years ago paid less than €5 per liter of high-quality virgin oil are now seeing prices rise to €14.

Alejandro Alegre, marketing director of STC, a security company that surveyed supermarkets, told the FT the thefts were not driven by hunger but by organized gangs seeking to profit from shortages.

In December, police in Spain and Italy arrested 11 people and seized more than 5,000 liters of adulterated olive oil after breaking up an international gang that allegedly sought to profit by passing off cheap oils as more expensive alternatives.

Alegre said it was unusual for such an important food item as olive oil to rank so high on the list of thefts. “Olive oil is the only thing that can be considered a staple food. The rest are Iberico ham, cured cheeses, razor blades and alcohol.”

Olive growers and companies that press olives into oil have also been targeted for their oil, with thieves stealing tens of thousands of liters of product.