Fryers face supply issues

The food service, deep frying and snack food manufacturing industries are facing tight supplies and high prices across the vegetable oils market, which is impacting the availability of frying oils such as high oleic sunflower oil Gary Lewis

Tight supplies and high prices across the global oils and fats market – exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February – is having a significant impact on the food service and deep frying industries.

Vegetable oil prices have soared more than 50% in the past six months due to labour shortages in Malaysia, droughts in Argentina and Canada, and the RussiaUkraine conflict.

Ukraine is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil and is responsible for up to 31% of sunflowerseed and safflower oil production, while Russia accounts for around 27%.

The conflict has also impacted the global market for high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) for fryers – with prices up, and availability low.

High oleic sunflower oil

Derived from special varieties of sunflowerseed bred to contain higher levels of oleic acid, HOSO has become increasingly popular with deep fryers.

While regular sunflower oil is relatively high in polyunsaturated (PUFA) linoleic acid, which makes it unsuitable for commercial frying since it oxidises rapidly, HOSO has a lower PUFA content but nearly 80% monounsaturated oleic acid, ideal for high temperature frying.

It resists oxidation and despite being 10% more expensive than ordinary sunflower oil, it lasts two to three times longer, with a comparable lifespan to other popular deep frying oils such as palm oil, palm olein and beef dripping.

HOSO has a lower level of saturated fat than these alternatives. It also has a neutral flavour profile that does not impact on the flavour of ingredients, and does not suffer from the controversial reputation of palm oil.

Prior to the Ukraine crisis, HOSO provided a good value, cost-effective option for frying.

While the current geopolitical situation and supply chain challenges have

Fryers face supply issues

significantly affected HOSO supplies, the oil should see continued growth when the situation stabilises.

Alternatives to HOSO

With HOSO in short supply, deep fryers, snack food manufacturers and food service users have already been forced to switch to alternatives.

Although both high oleic rapeseed oil (HORO) and high oleic soybean oil (H-OSBO) do exist – these are not widely available, and global markets are too small to provide a viable widespread alternative to HOSO in the near term.

In food service, most outlets are switching to direct alternatives for deep frying, such as palm oil and palm olein.

In the UK snack food sector and specifically with potato crisps, which depended heavily on HOSO, many major players have switched to rapeseed – despite the fact it is not an ideal alternative.

Due to the state of the market, the industry has been prepared to sacrifice some performance and lifespan for an increased surety in supply.

Some producers are also switching to blended oils. Frozen food potato giant McCain Foods GB & Ireland, for example, announced in late June that it would be using a blend of rapeseed and sunflower oils from 1 July.

“This will allow us to continue operating as normal, maintaining competitive prices for consumers,” said Howard Snape, regional president of McCain Foods GB & Ireland.

“Rapeseed oil, like sunflower oil, is naturally low in saturated fat and high in unsaturated fat and a widely used alternative around the world. With any change to our products, our priority is to ensure they remain at the same high level of quality and taste consumers expect, and we believe the transition we have outlined will achieve that.”

High performance frying blends

Another solution lies in specialist deep frying blends.

High performance frying blends are a type of long-life oil which are better

Photo: Adobe Stock

s face supply issues

at withstanding high temperatures and repeated exposure to oxygen, water and food, compared to other oils.

These blends are typically a combinati on of palm oil fracti ons and rapeseed oil – which vary in proporti on based on the frying requirements. The palm oil used is double fracti onated palm olein, which provides excellent stability for heavy duty frying.

Some products may also contain natural anti oxidants such as deodorised rosemary extract, or syntheti c alternati ves, but this is not usually required thanks to the inherent performance of the double fracti onated palm olein.

Although all oils do eventually degrade, specialist long-life blends with double fracti onated palm olein are much more durable than standard frying oils – meaning they bring fi nancial and practi cality benefi ts to deep fryers.

Fryers have been making the switch to specialist long-life blends because of the performance benefi ts for several years, and the current crises look likely to accelerate this trend.

High performance frying blends are a type of long-life oil which are bett er at withstanding high temperatures and repeated exposure to oxygen, water and food, compared to other oils.

Benefi ts of long-life oils

As specialist frying blends last longer, they require less maintenance and need to be changed less frequently. Ulti mately, this means fryers use less oil, and use less resources changing it.

This is benefi cial for heavy duty fryers, as it allows them to cut costs on one of their key overheads. It is also especially valuable in volati le periods such as now, when prices are high and availability is low.

Palm oil-based oil frying blends are also suitable for a vegetarian and vegan diet, unlike alternati ves such as beef dripping. April last year, leading UK manufacturer and distributor of edible oils, KTC Edibles, launched a new heavy-duty frying oil which blends Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) segregated CSPO, and rapeseed oil

Its Super Plus Hi-Fry oil is designed to last two-and-a-half ti mes longer than standard vegetable oil and is part of the company’s Hi-Fry range, which uses only RSPO segregated CSPO. "This makes it the natural choice for customers who care about environmentally friendly, ethical soluti ons," KTC says. 

Th e eff ects on sustainability

The challenges aff ecti ng fryers may have a knock-on eff ect on sustainability.

Food service players and deep fryers have been making good progress in choosing sustainable frying oils, such as those made from certi fi ed, sustainable palm oil (CSPO).

In 2019, 70% of total palm oil imports into the UK were sustainable. There has been further, more limited progress since, but there is sti ll a long way to go.

However, the urgency of the current situati on, combined with price increases and ti me constraints, may force some organisati ons to bypass their sustainability commitments.

Suppliers of frying oils made from sustainable palm oil off er an advantage in this respect. In Gary Lewis is president of the UK Nati onal Edible Oil Distributors’ Associati on (NEODA) and head of business for oils and fats at KTC Edibles Ltd Maximize the life of your frying oil. Our experts will work with you to optimize your frying operations and oil quality.

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