Filenews 4 August 2024
The fruiting of olive trees in the Mediterranean has been significantly higher so far, compared to the last 2-3 years and if there are no bad weather conditions that will affect the final production, it is expected that there will be greater production of olive oil, which in turn will help reduce prices per kilo.
The president of the National Interprofessional Organization of Olive Oil (EDOE) in Greece, Manolis Giannoulis, told ANA that production will range between 250-280,000 tons, provided that the weather conditions until the harvest period will be basically good. "Drought has two consequences, firstly part of the fruit will necessarily be lost because the tree will try to 'protect' itself and the second is that the yield of the fruit is less, restrained as when rain has fallen."
Regarding the producer price, the president of the EDOE points out that a decline is already being recorded. "Compared to the historical highs we reached 3-4 months ago, where the price was €9.5 per kilo, today we have fallen to €7 per kilo for extra virgin," he said. In fact, "the price will fall as the harvest approaches, and as long as we have sufficient supply," he said.
The fruiting of olives throughout the Mediterranean basin is also better this year, according to ANA. Especially for Spain, which has 45% of world production, this year's harvest will reach up to 70% of its overproduction, the maximum level its annual production can potentially reach.
However, what Mr. Giannoulis noted is that regardless of supply, consumer habits have changed in the last two years, due to the large increase in prices. "The reduction in consumption is dramatic. It has now shrunk by 40% compared to two years ago when the rally in olive oil prices began," he said. And this was done through two practices, as he explained: "One was less consumption of olive oil by the consumer and the second in some applications, such as frying, salad, etc. they used either less olive oil or some seed oil, due to its low price."
