CEO Linhart: sunflower oil is found in many food products 

Due to Ukraine* being the largest producer of sunflower oil, Atlante, a distributor of high-quality food products, is warning that supplies are depleting.

_{*Moldova is second}

Logistics Network could be jeopardised 

March is when sunflower oil seeds are sown and with ports in the Black Sea closing, 50k tonnes of the oil have been blocked. As well as being used for frying, sunflower oil can be found in the ingredients of many products such as sauces, mayonnaise, pesto and biscuits. In addition to this, due to the lack of fertilizers, which mostly come from Russia, sowing cannot take place, the next harvest and storage will be compromised.

Thus within a few weeks, stocks of the main Italian food chains could be depleted leading to empty supermarket shelves.

Having predicted this Atlante has asked permission from the relevant authorities (Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies) to use different types of oils to save production issues in the coming months.  It's also important to understand whether labeling could be adapted because in the current crisis there is a lack of paper and the printing time is doubled. This would hopefully mean that production interruptions could be avoided.

Skyrocketing prices

"Sunflower oil is an ingredient of global importance - confirms the CEO of Atlante Natasha Linhart, who is spending her days raising the concerns of many national and foreign producers who distribute products on a large scale. In the current conditions, we need to find a solution, at least a temporary one, that allows the food industry to use oils such as rapeseed, coconut or palm, to face the crisis that is coming ". In the absence of sunflower oil - it is her fear - the prices will skyrocket. "The alarm we are raising now concerns stocks of sunflower oil, but if we do not act immediately, current stocks will not be sufficient".

Meanwhile, the sector is also provisioning for those fleeing the war. Coop Alleanza 3.0, for example, started the Coop for Ukraine fundraising to finance the humanitarian activities of the UN Refugee Agency, the Community of Sant'Egidio and Doctors Without Borders. 500 thousand euros have already been allocated to which donations from members and consumers will be added.

This article first appeared on Atlantesrl.it