Why are my nuts more expensive than the pressed oil?

A bottle of walnut oil in the supermarket is many times cheaper than the same amount of nuts in the same store. How do manufacturers actually do this? The label clearly states that the bottle contains only 100% pure and cold-pressed oil. Do we have to switch en masse to the cheaper oil or is there really a difference in the supermarket oil and raw nuts and seeds?

The importance of unprocessed fats

Every person needs some fat every day in order to maintain optimal health. It is very important that you use the healthy unprocessed fats and that your body is not a useless burden. So you should choose as much as possible, as with other foods, for as many unprocessed and natural fats as possible.

It is true that humans need essential fatty acids that can be found in olives and walnuts, for example. Unfortunately, many people don't realize that many of the oils pressed from these seeds, nuts and olives are refined. This makes them think they are healthy while the opposite may be true.

Refining means the industrial purification of, among other things, oils by means of various techniques such as distillation and extraction. After this process, the product is stripped of all nutrients contained in the original product and made completely odorless, colorless and tasteless. You are left with more or less a useless product that does more harm than good to health. Due to the industrial refining process, virtually nothing remains in the oil of the original nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients). In fact, oil from nuts and seeds that is refined contains almost only the fatty acids. This makes it nothing more than an empty fuel like sugar with possibly added flavor.

Various nut and seed oils are high in polyphenols. Polyphenols are anti-oxidants that contribute to good health and protect against free radicals. Due to the refining of the oil, oxidation takes place, leaving only the bad fat.

Many a reader will now think, where do all those positive stories come from? We know them, the people around the Mediterranean who, for example, are so healthy because of the use of olive oil. It is important to note that unrefined oil, or unprocessed oil, is still packed with good nutrients.

Price comparison between oil and nuts You may ask yourself why manufacturers work like this. Unfortunately, it's all about making as much profit as possible, especially with the larger manufacturers and supermarkets. Take as an example a 250 ml bottle of walnut oil from Albert Heijn for only € 2.49 (price level April 2017). When you know that 250 grams of walnuts costs € 6.11 you get confused (price level April 2017). Especially when you understand that about 40% of a walnut consists of oil. So if you buy the walnuts yourself to squeeze oil from them, it costs at least € 15.28 instead of € 2.49 for 250 ml. This also applies to almost all other nut and seed oils.

It is therefore almost impossible to offer 250 ml of raw walnut oil for € 2.49. After all, walnuts are expensive nuts and can become a bit cheaper with a larger purchase, but in essence they remain precious nuts. At least, the salable nuts. The spoiled nuts are many times cheaper because they are unsaleable to consumers. This would allow the nuts to serve as animal feed, including pigs. However, rotten nuts are also not the best feed for pigs and are therefore increasingly avoided by farmers.
It is therefore almost impossible to offer 250 ml of raw walnut oil for € 2.49. After all, walnuts are expensive nuts and can become a bit cheaper with a larger purchase, but they are essentially precious nuts. At least, the salable nuts. The spoiled nuts are many times cheaper because they cannot be sold to consumers. This would allow the nuts to serve as animal feed including pigs. However, bad nuts are also not for pigs