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."
The International Olive Council’s (IOC’s) July 2020 newsletter includes news about the IOC’s meetings, decisions, job openings, and PhD fellowship, ending with an overview of worldwide trade in olive oil and table olives. It includes a link to a document describing the procedures for organoleptic panels to follow during a pandemic.
New PDO and PGI designations from the European Union recognize this unique extra virgin olive oil's distinctive characteristics and specific origin in Thrace, northeastern Greece.
An interesting, at times surprising, data source on worldwide olive oil production, consumption, imports, and exports from Olive Oil Times. Users can select specific countries for information about them.
This European Commission publication includes points about olive oil on pages 5 and 21-22. For example: "Olive oil prices remain under pressure despite positive price signals after the activation of private storage aid, an overall EU consumption that could grow by 6%, and dynamic trade to all main export destinations. The 2020/21 EU production could be around 2.3 million t, thanks to good weather conditions in the spring in Spain that would compensate the impact of heat waves in Greece and a lack of rain in certain Italian producing regions."
Olive oil is one of the exceptions; its exports increased both in May and in the first five months of 2020.
Once again, as Paolo DeAndreis writes, "The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is reviewing existing tariffs and considering whether or not to impose new ones on goods imported from the European Union."
There seems to be some concern in Greece about a new proposal for olive oil standards in the US. As a different article by Vassilis Zampounis (in Greek) points out, a new rule about the level of free fatty acids (among other things) could ignore other important factors that help determine olive oil quality.
Data from the European Commission, focused on Europe and its partners.
As Costas Vasilopoulos wrote for Olive Oil Times, "A heatwave during the critical flowering stage was enough to raise concerns among growers for their expected yields."
The International Olive Council has published estimates for olive oil production in the current crop year.