Munich Pub Swaps Beer For Sunflower Oil

A Munich brewpub has devised an innovative solution to Europe's cooking oil shortages, allowing customers to pay for their beer with sunflower oil to assure ample supply for frying schnitzels, Reuters' Ayhan Uyanik and Louisa Off reported.

Photo Insert: While a liter of beer in a German pub cost about 7 euros ($7), a one-liter bottle of sunflower oil costs about 4.5 euros, making the deal appealing to many consumers.

With Ukraine and Russia accounting for over 80% of worldwide sunflower seed oil exports, many European countries, including Germany, have seen supplies drop since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Managers at the Giesinger Brewery, a brewhouse and tavern in Munich's southern suburbs, believe they have found an answer, offering beer fans a liter of their favorite brew in exchange for the same amount of sunflower oil.

"The whole thing came up because we simply ran out of oil in the kitchen and that's why we have to be inventive," Erik Hoffmann, the bar manager, told Reuters TV.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, bottles of rapeseed and sunflower oil have frequently gone missing from German grocery shelves, and many stores limit the quantity of bottles per customer.

"Getting oil is very difficult...if you need 30 liters a week and only get 15 instead, at some point you won't be able to fry a schnitzel any longer," Hoffmann explained, adding that customers have traded 400 liters thus far.

While a liter of beer in a German pub cost about 7 euros ($7), a one-liter bottle of sunflower oil costs about 4.5 euros, making the deal appealing to many consumers.

Moritz Baller purchased 80 liters of sunflower oil in Ukraine while delivering humanitarian goods, exchanging his consignment for eight crates of beer for his birthday party. "This campaign is cool," he said.

"We can get cheap beer and yes, Giesinger Brewery is also helped."

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