"Greece will receive €19.3 billion under the new scheme, an amount similar to the funds provided by the CAP currently in operation."
The International Olive Council reports on olive oil production and consumption this crop year.
"Despite the vast majority of the world struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, global olive oil consumption did not falter, according to the latest report from the International Olive Council (IOC)."
The Greek olive oil sector must get much better at promoting the national product, or it will continue to fall farther behind competing countries.
The International Olive Council is studying olive oil consumption trends worldwide.
With 12 major awards at the Anatolian International Olive Oil Competition 2021 in Turkey, Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms has won more than 300 awards, a record for a Greek single estate olive producer.
"The insufficient promotion of Greek olive oil abroad, combined with the absence of a comprehensive policy to contain the cost of exports to far-flung countries like Canada, have resulted in a drop in Greece’s olive oil exports to the world’s second largest country."
"Increasing production paired with rising vegetable oil prices is also expected to yield record exports and olive oil consumption levels."
"Producers can save money and be more sustainable by shipping olive mill wastewater to local biogas production plants." This article discusses the current advantages and limitations of this plan in Greece.
The begins by mentioning that 13 former Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the IOC Advisory Committee were formally recognized by the IOC “for their commitment to the olive sector and the role they played in the Advisory Committee.” These included Panayiotis Karantonis, Andreas Plemmenos, and Loukas Kollias from Greece. The newsletter then discusses imports of olive oil into Australia, where Greece is the 3rd largest supplier, after Spain and Italy. For table olive imports into Australia, Greece is by far the largest supplier “with 60.2% of the imported volume.” Next, the newsletter goes over the worldwide olive oil and table olive trade, noting that between October 2018 and July 2019 olive oil imports increased in Japan (23%); Russia (14%); Brazil (13%); China (12%); the US (9%); Australia (3%); and Canada (1%) compared to the same period the previous year. Extra virgin olive oil prices in the summer were lower than the previous year in Spain (20%) and Tunisia (18%), but similar to the previous year in Italy and Greece, with Italy bringing in by far the highest price and Spain the lowest.
Compiled by Costas Vasilopoulos, these snapshots from different parts of Greece suggest varying results from the Greek olive harvest, with quality often better than quantity.
Snapshots from the Greek olive oil sector: selected views, as presented by Costas Vasilopoulos.
Predictions for EU olive oil production, consumption, and exports in the next ten years are on page 42 (or 46) of this document, depending on which numbers you look at.
The International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) October 2020 newsletter includes news about the IOC’s meetings and projects, and about increases in olive oil imports, world trade in olive oil and table olives, and producer prices in September (lower than last year in the top four producing countries).
The International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) November 2020 newsletter includes news about the IOC’s meetings, a seminar, a course, table olive imports, world trade in olive oil and table olives, olive oil producer prices in late October (higher than last year for Spain, lower for Italy and Greece), and UNESCO’s designation of November 26 as World Olive Day internationally “to protect the olive tree and promote the values of peace, wisdom and harmony that it symbolises.”
This pessimistic article states, "A newly-imposed lockdown has brought Greece to a standstill and created a logistical nightmare for olive growers. Some health experts believe the start of the harvest is partly responsible for the spread of the virus." As Greek Liquid Gold's article on the same subject suggests, not everyone in the olive oil industry has such a negative view of the situation.
According to Olive Oil Times, "Early seasonal prices have reached €3.80 per kilo while the lack of foreign workers has prevented some harvesting activities in Greece."
The International Olive Council provides statistics about olive oil prices in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal over the past decade.
"The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and persistently low olive oil prices remain the biggest worries for producers."
"Worldwide olive oil production will be somewhat lower than consumption in the 2020 season."
