"Olive oil was the largest Greek agri-food export last year and the fourth-largest export overall, according to a new report. Its success has renewed the call from farmers for government backing."
Interested for years in "the health benefits of phenolic compounds in olive oil, ... [Athan] Gadanidis had told Dr. Magiatis that they needed a human subject to test the benefits of olive oil in treating prostate cancer. Ironically, he would be that subject himself."
With olive oil production considerably decreased in Italy and Greece but increased in Spain and Portugal, this article offers food for thought about reasons and responses. It also notes that quality remains high in Greece and Italy.
The International Olive Council newsletter for March opens with a look at developments related to olive oil in Albania, Japan, China, and Poland. It continues with an Open Call for Experts “and laboratory leaders working on possible contaminants in olive oils and olive-pomace oils to express their interest in participating in data collection and method validation.” The newsletter moves on to world trade in olive oil and table olives, with a focus on Japan, the fourth largest importer of olive oil in the world, mostly from Spain and Italy, with imports up by 18% in the first three months of the crop year, compared to last year. More generally, trade in olive oil and olive pomace oil began the 2018/19 crop year with significant increases in the first three months (October – December 2018): “28% in Russia; 25% in Australia; 18% in Japan; and 15% in Brazil.” Table olive trade also increased in some countries. Extra virgin olive oil producer prices remain considerably lower than last year in Spain (25%), Tunisia (18%), and Greece (14%), but much higher in Italy (46%).
The International Olive Council newsletter for February has a new look and quite a lot of information about past and future meetings (in Egypt, Japan, Germany) and projects (the Horizon2020 project called OLEUM). Noteworthy: “the International Olive Council plans to award 20 scholarships for the university specialisation course in the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil (university expert diploma) taught at the University of Jaén (Spain).” Applications are due March 15, and this is open only to those fluent in Spanish, the language of instruction. Italy has proposed a new classification for extra virgin olive oil, which it suggests be limited to olive oil with an acidity of no more than 5% (instead of the current 8%). “A proposal must be officially presented to the [IOC] Council of Members so that the Executive Secretariat can take the steps necessary to study the issue at hand.” In market news: worldwide table olive consumption has increased by 178.7% since 1990. In the first two months of 2018/19 crop year, October to November 2018, eight markets increased their olive oil imports, compared to the same time last year: Australia (38%), Brazil (31%), Russia (25%), Japan (19%), Canada (15%), and China (5%). Extra virgin olive oil prices in Italy have continued to increase and remain far higher than in Spain, Greece, and Tunisia.
This confirms expectations that this difficult crop year, due to weather and olive fruit fly problems, means less olive oil from Greece, with quality problems in many areas. On the other hand, Ioannis Kampouris says, "The producers who devoted time to cater to their groves and executed precise crop-dusting operations received olive oils of high quality, provided that harvest and processing of the olives occurred on time.... So, instead of the usual mass production, small producers will be able to demonstrate their quality products.”
This Olive Oil Times article avoids the overgeneralizations we see in most publications about the current olive harvest year, showing that the situation in several countries is more complicated than many think.
Vassilis Zampounis writes in Olivenews.gr that the Greek olive oil market is now characterized by low demand and low prices, since excellent extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) are much less common than last year, with some exceptions for very high quality EVOOs in Laconia and Crete.
Danielle Pacheco provides an overview of the big picture of olive oil production this year according to European Commission figures, with Greece producing the 2nd largest amount of olive oil, after Spain, and the total production worldwide not too much less than last year.
Vassilis Zampounis writes in Olivenews.gr that "official information from the Spanish Ministry" leads him to expect 1.6 million metric tons of olive oil from Spain this crop year, rather than the more optimistic 1.76 million estimated by the European Commission.
"Small-scale Greek producers are taking a gamble that the risk of investing in organic olive oil production will pay off. Some say Greece has the ideal conditions in which to do so."
As Ylenia Granitto writes for Olive Oil Times, "the International Olive Council and the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies organized a seminar with the goal of consolidating a common action plan against Xf." (Xylella has not been reported in Greece to date, but vigilance is encouraged.)
At the 108th meeting of the Council of Members of the International Olive Council (IOC) in November, the rotating leadership was transferred from Argentina to Egypt. In the context of a World Olive Day celebration, the newsletter offered an overview of who is involved with the IOC, and what the IOC does. At a CO2 International Seminar, the IOC’s algorithm to calculate the carbon footprint of olive oil was presented and discussed, and additional research on olive trees’ ability to extract carbon from the atmosphere was encouraged. The topics covered at the 52nd meeting of the Advisory Committee on olive oil and table olives were mentioned. The rest of the newsletter focused on world trade in olive oil and table olives, noting a significant decrease in olive oil imports in the 2017/18 crop year in Brazil and Canada and a slight decline in the USA, and discussing fluctuations in olive oil prices through mid November, as compared to the previous year.
A 500-ml bottle of extra virgin olive oil made from the olives of ancient trees around Ierapetra, Crete was sold recently for €510 at an auction in the Netherlands.
Costas Vasilopoulos provides an overview of expectations for this year's Greek olive oil production in Olive Oil Times, noting that "a reduction in quality and quantity is expected in the majority of olive oil making territories compared to last year."
Vassilis Zampounis updated his expectations for olive oil production from the major Mediterranean producers on Olivenews.gr. The big picture, worldwide, is better than he had expected earlier, although that is not true for Greece.
Earlier forecasts called for less olive oil production worldwide this year; what is noteworthy here is that the decrease now looks like 5.5% rather than the more concerning 8% drop predicted earlier.
The Aristoleo team took some high phenolic extra virgin olive oils to SIAL Paris recently, showcasing some extra healthy EVOOs on the world's stage.
The International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) Market Newsletter for October begins with an overview of Brazilian olive oil imports (only 1% from Greece), a September meeting about how to “to prevent, control and mitigate the effects of the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) in olive trees” and a December seminar on “Integrated Action against Xylella fastidiosa to Protect Olive Trees and International Trade,” then moves on to world trade in olive oil and table olives. Notable figures for October 2017- August 2018 include a 28% in imports of olive oil into Brazil and 16% increase into Canada, and an 89% increase in imports into the EU, especially from Tunisia. OIive oil producer prices fell slightly in Spain and Greece in recent weeks, while passing 5 euros per kg by mid October in Italy.
In this article (in Greek), Vassilis Zampounis reports that the powerful Xenophon and Zorba storms that hit Greece this fall led to reduced expectations for the country’s olive oil production; instead of the 240,000 metric tons he predicted before, he now expects 210,000 from Greece. On the other hand, his prediction for Italy is unchanged at 190,000, while the forecast for Spain has improved, going up to 1.6 million metric tons.
