Speaking to Lusa, the head of BACF in Beja, José Tadeu Freitas, lamented that the institution was now left “without olive oil to deliver to the approximately four thousand people who receive support every month”.

“Robberies are always bad, no matter who it is, but for us, this is even worse, because it means stealing food from people who need it,” he said.

According to the president of BACF in Beja, the robbery occurred last night, since, on Sunday, a member of the management was in the warehouse and the alert was given this morning by a volunteer.

The volunteer, the officer said, “found that the back door had been broken into and that around 600 litres of olive oil, valued at around five thousand euros, had been stolen.”

José Tadeu Freitas highlighted that the stolen oil had recently been donated by two companies in the region and was still boxed, noting that, according to the donation receipts, the product was valued at five thousand euros.

“It is an expensive and much-needed product because it is one of the main seasonings in the Alentejo and oil is not, for us, considered a substitute, although we have some, but we also don’t have much”, he highlighted.

Noting that the Food Bank ran out of olive oil, the person in charge warned that, if donations are not made, the baskets to be delivered to the families served, until the next food collection campaign, in May, will not contain this product.

“The oil they stole will certainly go to the market and must already be being sold somewhere,” he said.

According to the president of BACF in Beja, the robbers would have used the “supermarket-type carts” that the institution has in its facilities to transport the oil between the warehouse and a vehicle.

The PSP has already been to the scene and is investigating the case, he added.