Margherita Pizza Index Rises 18.4% in One Year
Olive Oil Prices Soar 24% Due to Spain Drought
As extreme weather events cause food ingredient prices to soar across Europe, there is an outcry in Italy about the difficulty of making Margherita pizza.
On the 18th (local time), Bloomberg's 'Margherita Pizza Index' rose 18.4% compared to the same month last year. Although the upward trend slowed from April after peaking at 30% last November, it still remains more than double the inflation rate in Italy last month (8%).
The Margherita Pizza Index calculates the prices of the four basic ingredients of Italy's representative dish, pizza (flour, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olive oil), along with the electricity consumption required to bake the pizza, and is used as an indicator reflecting living costs.
The main reason it has become difficult for Italian households to make Margherita pizza is the rise in food ingredient prices across Europe.
First, the price of olive oil surged 24.6% year-on-year as of last month. This is a consequence of severe drought in Spain, which accounts for 40% of global olive oil production. Spain has been experiencing the worst drought in history since last year and suffered from a heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees Celsius in April.
The price of mozzarella cheese also jumped 22.1% year-on-year, and tomato prices rose 18.2%. In particular, tomato prices have shown a notable upward trend, increasing 7.5% in just the past month. Flour prices rose 9.4% compared to the previous year and 0.3% compared to the previous month. However, energy prices increased 13.5% year-on-year but slightly decreased by 1.4% compared to the previous month.
Although the burden of making pizza has increased, the cost of buying pizza rose only 7.7% year-on-year, leading some to analyze that dining out might be a better option.
The problem does not stop at pizza. Due to rising raw material costs such as coffee beans, cocoa, and sugar, coffee prices in Italy have also been on the rise this year. The price of an espresso shot increased from the previous 1 euro (about 1,351 won) to 1.1 euros (about 1,486 won), and a cappuccino rose from 1.4 euros (about 1,892 won) to 1.5 euros (about 2,027 won).
Another staple food in Italy, pasta, also saw a price increase last month. This is due to poor production of durum wheat, the main ingredient used for pasta noodles, caused by abnormal weather conditions. However, with no significant government response, the Italian consumer civic group Asutenti announced that starting from the 22nd, it will call for a nationwide 'pasta boycott campaign.' Italy is the world's largest pasta consumer, with an average annual per capita consumption of 23 kg.
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