According to recent article on the Financial Times website, the olive oil producers of Spain, Italy and Greece are under strain as crops are being affected by climate change and global production dropped 26 per cent in the 2014-2015 crop year.
Over the past five years, bad weather has hit the most important producing countries — Spain, Italy and Greece — three times, causing supply failures. – Rabobank, the Dutch bank that is one of the largest lenders to the agribusiness industry.
The huge demand for olive oil from these regions coupled with unstable supplies is predicted to cause prices to rise, once again.
Last year olive oil prices rose significantly after drought and pests negatively affected production and supplies in Spain and Italy. On top if the climate factors affecting production and supply, the global demand for olive oil has been steadily growing, with more awareness around the health benefits of this product.
While consumption among Italy, Spain and Greece has dropped over the last ten years, due to rising prices, consumption has been rising steadily in markets such as the US and Japan, as well as those in northern Europe.
For the current 2016/17 harvest, which started in September, forecasters at the International Olive Oil Council (IOC) are expecting another bout of poor weather and pests hitting supplies. Spanish production is expected to retreat 1 per cent, while Italy is expected to decline 30 per cent, Greece down 19 per cent and Tunisia losing 29 per cent.
For those of you that regularly purchase imported olive oils, you might want to rethink your buying habits. Our local olive industry in South Africa is on the rise and although still very small comparatively, the quality of olive oils being produced is on par with many imported olive oils and the prices are very competitive.
With so many recent cases of olive oil fraud, particularly from these big olive oil producing countries, consumers cannot be sure if the imported olive oils are really “extra virgin” with the all the health benefits. It seems that the wise choice for South Africans is to stick to buying local olive oils that are labeled the SA Olive Association CTC seal of approval.
Sources: https://www.ft.com/content/dfea561c-9b76-11e6-b8c6-568a43813464
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