Costas Vasilopoulos describes the results of this year's olive harvest in Greece, which vary from one place to another. In many areas, quality seems much better than quantity this year.
"Intensive groves will outnumber traditional farms thirty years from now, and the number of olive oil-producing countries will rise to 80, says Juan Vilar."
"Greeks are among the top per capita consumers of olive oil in the world but have cut back on the highest grade." Based on an article about a 2020 survey in Greece, this report discusses various opinions, practices, and levels of knowledge about olive oil.
"Local producers have joined forces with scientists In Chania, Crete, to identify, analyze and transfer the DNA identity of olive oil from the field to the bottle, achieving authenticity and traceability for their local products."
"Commentaries by five members of the Scientific Society of Olive Encyclopaedists (4E) on civilization, health and Covid-19, climate change, the value of olive growing, olive policy."
"Many producing regions, especially in the western part of the country, were hit with a deluge that some farmers say is becoming more common." However, the situation varies in different parts of the country.
The total picture in the Greek olive sector is not yet clear, although "[t]he ongoing drought has led to wildfires burning around the country, damaging olive trees, and further diminishing the prospects of the 2021 harvest."
"Greek olive oil production will be off 20 percent from last year's yield, early estimates say."
"The progress in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Europe is positively affecting the recovery of the agricultural sector, according to the European Commission in its latest short-term outlook for agricultural markets."
"Greece has made an official request to the Council of the European Union to receive financial aid for oil olive oil and table olive producers hit by the extreme weather conditions that prevailed in parts of the country during the last six months."
"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.