A cooking oil section in a British supermarket with a sign advising that each customer can only buy 2 items per person as shortages of sunflower oil due to the Ukraine war hit the United Kingdom
Ukraine and Russia are responsible for exporting around 80% of the world’s sunflower oil. The knock-on effect has been a shortage in all cooking oil. Logistical disruptions from the Black Sea, following Vladimir Putin’s invasion, have disrupted trade.
There are now signs in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and Waitrose stores, alerting customers to the new restrictions of only buying two bottles of cooking oil at a time, which are applicable for online orders as well.