More than 100 palettes of olive oil, worth over $1 million, was stolen in Montreal, according to police. Montreal police (SPVM) said that a transport company was sending product to a client in Montreal, and it did not arrive on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. The theft was reported on Feb. 5. The SPVM says that the company had olive oil that needs to be transferred to properly heated trailers for storing and transporting the product. Another company arrived and left with the merchandise, but it was never delivered, police say. There have been no arrests and a police investigation is ongoing. “We’re looking at some footage at this point and hopefully we can get more information on the trucks that came to transport it,” said SPVM spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant. Police are asking anyone with information on the theft to contact the anonymous info crime line at 514-393-1133. ‘Liquid gold’ Olive oil theft is nothing new with both big heists being reported as well as low-level shoplifting at supermarkets for the “liquid gold.” The company Terra Delyssa said in September that $2.5 million worth of organic and extra virgin olive oil was stolen in Houston Texas a few days after a truck loaded with product was stolen in Montreal. European news sources report that olive oil has become the most stolen product from supermarkets in Spain and many supermarkets are locking the product up. Olive oil producers in the Mediterranean are dealing with a multi-year drought, and prices have risen. According to Statistics Canada, in March 2024, Canadians paid an average of $16.32 for a litre of olive oil. That is up from $14.30 in January. Three years ago, in March 2021, shoppers were only paying $6.62/litre. Prices, however, have come down significantly, according to Dalhousie University Agri-Food analytics lab director Sylvain Charlebois. “Wholesale prices coming out of Europe have actually dropped by 50 per cent,” he said. “The harvest was very strong in 2024 in that European area.” Charlebois said that when the general public realizes that a product, like olive oil, is spiking, that product may become a target. “Organized crime tends to look at those products more seriously because they then recognize that most people know that these products are expensive and it would be easier to find a black market for these products,” he said.
