"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.
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.
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."
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.
Naturally, this includes the olive and olive oil sectors. Solutions mentioned here and elsewhere include increased branding (vs. bulk sales), promotion of PDO products, and links to agrotourism ventures.
"Seven companies in Greece that produce table olives and extra virgin and virgin olive oil were the first in the country to display a 'Greek Mark' on their labeling, part of a project to distinguish Greek products in foreign markets."
This is an interesting summary of many of the topics covered at the recent conference at Yale School of Public Health, which convened a committee to plan a new olive institute at this prestigious American university.
The IOC reports on provisional data for global olive oil production for the 2017/18 crop year, with 3,315,000 metric tons produced overall, which is a 28% increase compared to the previous crop year, and a 9% consumption increase. The major producing countries for 2017/18 were Spain (1,256,200 metric tons), Italy (428,900), Greece (346,000), Tunisia (280,000), Turkey (263,000), Morocco (140,000), and Portugal (134,800), according to figures provided by each country. Except for Spain, whose production had fallen by 2.7%, each of these countries enjoyed a significant increase in production compared to the previous year, although the increase varied from 27% in Morocco to 180% in Tunisia. “According to the official country data and the estimates of the IOC Executive Secretariat, world production in 2018/19 is estimated at around 3 064 000 t, which would be a decrease of approximately 7.6% compared to the previous year. Consumption is expected at 2 916 500 t…. At this point in the year it is still too early to judge the accuracy of these estimates and the figures that the Council of Members will examine at the end of November will be more solid, unless exceptional weather conditions intervene.” Specifically, these are the current forecasts for major producing countries: Spain, 1,550,000 metric tons; Italy, 270,000; Greece, 240,000; Turkey, 183,000; Morocco, 145,000; Portugal, 130,000; Tunisia, 120,000. For table olives, “world production for the 2018/19 crop year is estimated at 2 735 500 t, a 7% decrease compared to the previous crop year.” Tables provide an overview of imports of olive oil and table olives during most of the 2017/18 crop year, and graphs show major producer countries’ olive oil price fluctuations over the last few years.
This is Daniel Dawson's summary for Olive Oil Times of the International Olive Council newsletter I also summarized a bit differently above.
Compared to last year, the Greek olive harvest is "expected to be slimmer mainly due to the production cycle of the olive trees, and the olive fruit fly has again made its presence felt in many areas of the country." However, some growers are more hopeful than others; the situation is not uniform throughout the country.
As Daniel Dawson writes, "The conference will gather industry members from an array of disciplines to plan the formation of an olive oil think tank."
As Costas Vasilopoulos writes for Olive Oil Times in his summary of some of the benefits of the new deal, "By discarding its own labeling rules and by adopting the rules of the IOC, Japan will make it a lot easier for bottlers and exporters to send their olive oils to this part of the Far East.... The Office for Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Greek Embassy in Tokyo told us that they foresee an indirect benefit for olive oil from the opening of the Japanese market to EU products, which will prompt consumers to opt for more products from the EU member states."
This edition of the International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) Market Newsletter provides an overview of the IOC’s upcoming activities and meetings, including some leading up to World Olive Day on November 22. For example, the IOC’s Statistics Working Group will meet October 1 to discuss estimates for the upcoming and past harvest years, among other topics. Olive oil chemistry and standardization issues, categories, and debates will be addressed at a number of meetings. The newsletter also provides an overview of olive oil trade from October 2017 to June 2018 (and table olives during a similar period), noting a 29% increase of olive oil imports into Brazil and a 98% increase in imports into the European Union from outside the EU, mainly from Tunisia. Changes in producer prices in major olive oil producing countries are also summarized, with significant reductions compared to the same time last year (26-27% less for Greece, Italy, and Spain, 18% less in Tunisia) and considerably higher prices in Italy than in the other three.
"Six months after the new rule banning refillable bottles, the restaurants who apply it are still an exception." However, the owner of one exception emphasizes the important goal of the law.