Want Beer? Pay With Sunflower Oil: German Pub’s Barter Deal To Cope With Cooking Oil Shortage

Russia Ukraine Conflict: Germany, like many other European countries, has reported severe shortage of rapeseed and sunflower oil since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Europe has been experiencing a severe shortage of cooking oil since Russia invaded Ukraine. The two countries account for about 80 per cent of global exports of sunflower seed oil. The shortage is hurting many European countries. With the bottles of rapeseed and sunflower oil going missing from the shelves of shops and supermarkets, the food industry is specifically hit.

In Germany, a brewpub has come up with a novel way to beat this cooking oil shortage. It is asking customers to pay for their beer with sunflower oil, according to a Reuters report. This is to ensure there are enough stocks to fry schnitzels, a popular Central European snack of fried meat served with liquor.

Giesinger Brewery in the southern German city of Munich is offering the customers one litre of their favourite beer for the same quantity of sunflower oil, the report said. 

"Getting oil is very difficult ... if you need 30 litres a week and only get 15 instead, at some point you won't be able to fry a schnitzel any longer," pub manager Erik Hoffmann was quoting as saying on Reuters TV.

Germany has reported severe shortage of rapeseed and sunflower oil since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many supermarkets have been rationing the number of bottles per customer, according to reports.

Why The Offer Is Tempting For Many

Quoting managers at the a brewhouse and pub, the Reuters report said the idea is working.

"The whole thing came up because we simply ran out of oil in the kitchen and that's why we have to be inventive," pub manager Hoffmann was quoted as saying.

He said Giesinger has seen an exchange of 400 litres so far. 

The offer turns out to be tempting for many customers because a litre of beer costs about 7 euros (over Rs 560) at pubs in Germany, while a bottle of one-litre sunflower oil is sold for about 4.5 euros in retail.

"The campaign is cool. We can get cheap beer…,” said Moritz Baller, a customer. He told the news agency that he had bought 80 litres of sunflower oil in Ukraine when he went there to deliver humanitarian aid, and later swapped his shipment for eight crates of beer to celebrate his birthday party.