The European program Interreg Med Aristoil was "selected as the best program in its category for 2019 among dozens of interregional European programs." As the article says, "the aim of the ARISTOIL program is to increase the economic value of olive oil through demonstration and certification of its health protective properties and directly concerns more than 3000 olive growers participating in the program."
The International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) Market Newsletter for June opens with an overview of the 109th session of the council of members, which took place in Morocco, the focus of the newsletter’s next article and of the 125th edition of the IOC’s Olivae magazine. The newsletter discusses the IOC’s seminar on the future of the olive sector, an expert meeting on possible contaminant residues in olive oils and olive-pomace oils, and the imports of olives and olive oil in Brazil (where olive oil imports from Greece have increased considerably). Concluding with a look at the world trade in olive oil and table olives, the newsletter mentions that data on olive oil and olive pomace oil imports from October 2018 to March 2019 “show an increase of 19% in Japan; 18% in Australia; 16% in Russia; 13% in Brazil; 11% in the United States; 6% in China; and 2% in Canada.” Extra virgin olive oil producer prices at the end of May were down 12% in Spain and 18% in Tunisia compared to last year, but up 4% in Greece and 49% in Italy.
And now in English: very early estimates for the 2019/20 crop year's olive oil production worldwide, and in the major producing countries.
As Helen Skopis writes for Greek Reporter, there is concern in Greece about the possibility that US tariffs could be imposed on European olive oil, but also hope that this will not occur. Note the link (at the end) to a petition which urges avoidance of what the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA)'s executive director, Joseph Profaci, says would amount to a tax on the health of Americans.
A brief overview of a recent important meeting in the Greek olive oil world, from Olivenews.gr.
"The certification process for 14 varieties of olive is underway at the state-run Olive Tree Institute of ELGO Demetra based in Chania, a development that Greek Nurseries are watching with great interest but also caution as it could satisfy their long-standing demand for certified propagating material."
The International Olive Council Market Newsletter for May 2019 opens with a focus on Egypt (the world’s leading consumer and 2nd producer of table olives) and news from the latest meeting (in Cairo) of the IOC Advisory Committee. News from Egypt comes with information about table olive consumption and production worldwide. The newsletter goes on to discuss a course on table olives in Egypt, a conference and meetings in Peru, and visits to the IOC from a Chinese delegation and the Olive Oil Sommelier Association of Japan. There is an overview of trade in olive oil and table olives in eight markets from October to February 2019, showing increased olive oil imports in Australia (21%), Japan (19%), Russia (19%), the USA (17%), Brazil (15%), and Canada (7%), with imports falling only in China (4%) compared to last year. There were more modest increases in imports of table olives in four countries. The newsletter concludes with a look at producer prices for olive oil in the major producing countries. Prices fell in Spain (21%), Tunisia (18%), and Greece (10%) compared to last year but continued their climb in Italy, where they are 48% higher than last year.
"Estimates of this year’s olive oil production by key stakeholders offer contrasting pictures of the quantities of extra virgin olive oil that may be available on the Greek market for this season."
Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming recently won its 100th award for its organic products, including its olive oil. "It is the only Greek business which has managed to win such a large number of prizes and awards in an array of worldwide shows and competitions."
The International Olive Council’s Market Newsletter for April 2019 begins with a focus on the Mario Solinas Competition, which seems to have been largely a contest among Spanish, Portuguese, and Moroccan olive oils this year, with a handful of entries from ten other countries. The newsletter also discusses “a meeting on the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil at IOC headquarters in Madrid” concerning “recent updates on organoleptic assessment, sensory analysis panel harmonization and the classification of virgin olive oil.” It mentions plans to launch “a portal that gathers scientific information on the health benefits of olive oil and olive products,” the Olive Health Information System, or OHIS, “in the coming months.” It includes a market report that shows increases in olive oil imports in several key markets from October 2018 to January 2019: Australia (31%), Japan (18%), Russia (17%), Brazil (13%), and Canada (12%); Australia, Brazil, and Canada also increased imports of table olives. Some of the dates in the discussion of olive oil producer prices seem rather mixed up, so those interested may want to consult the graphs at the end of the newsletter.
"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%).
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.
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.”
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.