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Sunflower oil shelves are empty in supermarkets. Producers are increasingly forced to turn to rapeseed oil and are overwhelmed by this influx of demand.
In Avernes (Val-d’Oise), it is difficult to get your hands on sunflower oil in certain departments, a large part of the production coming from Ukraine. Supermarkets rely on Stéphane Duval, oil producer. For weeks, his phone hasn’t stopped ringing. He is obliged to refuse orders and favor his regular customers in order to best meet demand. “We only put half of the order in sunflower because we can’t provide everything they asked for”he testifies about an order from a supermarket.
The company offers its buyers to refer to rapeseed oil. Production has thus doubled. “Usually we make about 200, here we are more on 400, even 500 bottles per day”, explains Carina Goncalves, order picker. At this rate, Stéphane Duval will soon have exhausted his oil reserve four months ahead of schedule. He fears eventually losing some customers.