Olive oil

Producer prices of olive oil in Greece have fallen recently, while the harvest of the new crop has not yet been completed.

Specifically, prices are as follows:

– Laconia: From 6.50 euros on Friday to 6.30 euros on Saturday.
– Crete: From 7.50 euros 10 days ago, to 5 euros on Sunday.
– Messinia: From 6.80 euros last week, to 6 euros at the weekend.

Almost 28,000 bottles of counterfeit olive oil labeled misleadingly have been removed from the Bulgarian market. The product in question is "Mediterranean Blend of Italian Sunflower Oil & Extra Virgin Olive Oil (20%)," which comes in 1-liter containers.

Last week, I was at the Olive Oil Tasting Festival in Edremit, where we sampled various olive oils and even tried goat milk olive oil ice cream made by the Italian "ice cream philosopher," Marco Radicioni. Marco is a hero who is carrying gastronomy forward.

On a Monday morning, farmer Spyros Staramos was outside his oil mill in Aitoliko, a town in Western Greece. It would have been just another typical Monday for him if he hadn't seen that the two locks on his warehouse had been broken. "At first I found a cart on the doorstep that we usually have inside the warehouse, but I thought I had left it outside and forgotten.

Olive oil is now taking on epidemic proportions, fuelled by the high prices that persist, but also by the relatively low mood caused by climate change.

Olive oil supply in Europe is set to rise sharply in the year ahead as top producer Spain recovers from drought, though it was unclear if households hurt by record prices will revert to the Mediterranean specialty, the European Commission has said.

Olive oil production is expected to surpass last year's figures, raising hopes for lower prices in stores.

George Oikonomou, the general manager of the Greek olive oil producers' union, told AMNA that production is projected to reach between 220,000 and 230,000 tons.

With restrictions on exports eased and output expected to surge this year, Türkiye's olive oil producers are focusing on large markets, such as the U.S., Australia, and Japan.

Türkiye ranks fifth in olive oil production and third in olive production globally.

Investment funds are increasingly putting their money into small and medium-sized firms.

Greek olive oil production is expected to be moderate to good this year, according to current forecasts for 2024, the president of the National Interprofessional Olive Oil Organization (EDOE), Manolis Giannoulis, told state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

Production is anticipated to range between 250,000 and 280,000 tons.