According to early indications, this year’s production should be better than last year’s oilencouraging expectations of price reductions on supermarket shelves, following explosive price increases.
In his statements to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency, SEVITEL General Director Giorgos Oikonomou stated that “according to estimates this year’s olive production will reach between 220-230,000 tons“, which will result in the normalization of the situation.
“Green Gold”
In recent years, both Russia’s war with Ukraine, which has driven up commodity prices and diverted olive oil, and severe weather conditions, which have reduced olive oil production in the “Mediterranean Basin” to historic low consumer prices, making “.green gold” a luxury item. As Mr. Economou highlighted, this situation is about to change, as production in all olive producing countries is returning to “normal” levels.
“Prices will fall”
According to industry professionals, this year’s producer prices will be lower than last year’s. “When quantities are almost double last year, the producer cannot receive the same price as last year”, they explain. The producers receive around 8 euros per literbut the same factors observe that this momentum will not be sustained.
“The game has a happy one and an unhappy one. But we also have to start looking at the consumer, who has difficulty paying for oil at today’s prices”, said the General Director of SEVITEL to APE-MPE. And he continues: “we have to let the market play with supply and demand. Last year producer prices exceeded 10 euros and this increase was also passed on to the final consumer.”
Drop in consumption due to rising prices
This will help bring Greek olive oil back to family tables. Due to rising prices last year, many families chose to replace traditional virgin olive oil with cheaper sunflower oils, seed oils, etc. In fact, this is not a Greek phenomenon, as in Spain and Italy, purely olive-producing countries, consumption fell, as in our country, by close to 18% to 20%.
This, according to Oikonomou, “is due to the increase in prices, but also to changes in the eating habits of Greek consumers” and added “we will take all necessary measures to put Greek olive oil on the table again”.
How olive oil will gain value again
To give more value to the product, Mr. Economou emphasized that “the consumer must be informed about the benefits that olive oil brings to their health”. Controls, according to him, should be intensified and “green gold” should be sold standardized and not in bulk and anonymously which, according to the General Director of SEVITEL, “is often counterfeited”. “If all this is done, the terms of competition and the market will work out on their own,” he noted.
“We definitely need a national strategy, mainly for exports and strengthening actions, visibility and promotion of the product” he added to conclude: “We all have to contribute in this sense”.
Source: RES-MPE