What’s fueling the surge in vegetable oil pricing? Well fuel for one thing. As weird as that may sound, new developments in efficient conversion of plant-based oils to fuel has lowered the production cost as diesel and gas prices have risen. At the same time large palm oil producing countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have seen palm oil production plummet due to labor shortages and bad weather. This in turn puts pressure on all the other commodity oils like soy, corn, canola and grapeseed. Throw in the re-opening of economies around much of the world, and we have economists predicting no end in sight for at least the remainder of 2021. Ironically, olive oil, the most luxurious of edible oils hasn’t been nearly as affected. We may soon be frying our hushpuppies and doughnuts in EVOO.
