The wager of Greek olive oil

Under today’s conditions, after many years of neglect, those who have olive trees stop what they are doing in the cities in November and go to their villages to harvest the olives.

The combination of conditions that are going to be created makes olive production more advantageous than any other activity.

The number one olive producing country in the world, Spain, records a production decrease of more than 40%. More than 500,000 tons will be missing from the market this year due to a drought that has hit Spanish production. In Italy the problem is the same for smaller quantities.

In Greece, on the contrary, after many years of problematic production that yielded around 210,000 tons, this year the harvest is expected to exceed 300,000 tons.

The news is even better in terms of prices. Due to the shortages from Spain and Italy, those who choose to pick olives will be rewarded with prices that will surely exceed 4 euros per kilo and are likely to move towards 5 euros, after registering barely above 3 euros last year.

The first issue, however, is who will pick the olives, as securing a sufficient number of land workers is no mean feat, not for just any agricultural product, but for olive oil, which highlights the structural problems facing agricultural production and consequently the Greek economy. In other words, there is the possibility that, while the market is thirsty for plenty of high-quality oil such as Greek olive oil, and while there is at the same time the lure of a high price, we may not have the necessary hands to collect it.

The second issue is what to do with the olive oil we will produce. If, for example, in Greece, we content ourselves with completing the process until the olive press and then leave it to its fate, to be traded in bulk, we have done nothing. One year we will do well and from next year it will be the same again.

For example, it is circulating in the olive producing areas that this year apart from the well-known Italian traders who load barrels with bulk high quality Greek olive oil who standardize, blend and sell it as Italian, Turkish traders have also appeared. There are already reports that Asian markets such as Japan have been flooded with Turkish standardized olive oil, which has been bought in bulk from Greece.

In Italy we already export half of the Greek production (over 100,000 tons) in bulk and anonymously. The value of these exports exceeds 345 million euros. The existing estimates say that if we were to standardize it and create a fundamentally good Greek brand, the revenues of Greek olive oil could increase by at least 300 million euros, exceeding a total of 650 million euros.

The opportunity is clearly in front of us. Over 300 recognized olive oil standardization companies operate in our country.