Italy is facing a serious olive oil crisis
Climate change and bacterial pests pose a major threat to olive oil production in Italy. What does that mean for you?
Manfred Meeuwig from olive oil wholesaler Meeuwig & Zn. explains.
What exactly is going on?
“The harvest is simply very poor. That is mainly due to the warm, wet summer. It rained a lot during the harvest period, which meant that harvesting was not possible. As a result, the olives remained on the trees and became overripe.”
“Moreover, that wet weather attracted certain flies. They make holes in the olives, causing them to oxidize. You can compare it to an apple turning brown when you take a bite out of it. That is very bad for the quality of the olives. The olives are much sweeter, softer and blander than usual, which makes them less appealing.”
“In short: the harvest is relatively poor in terms of both yield and taste.”
Does this also apply to the olive trade?
“They are having an even harder time because those olives are judged even more on appearance.”
Are other countries also affected by this problem, or is Italy the only one getting the short end of the stick?
“People say that Spain is not affected, but that is not true. Southern Spain is not affected, but in Northern Spain they are dealing with exactly the same problem. Greece is too. Our producer on Lesbos could not sell us anything because the harvest was so poor. They referred us to a producer higher up on a mountain, who had not been affected by the flies.”
“Crete, on the other hand, has had a very good harvest this year. They now have incredibly delicious oil. So they can only hope that they have enough stock, because then they will have a very good year.”
And what does this mean for us, the consumers?
“That depends on what kind of olive oil you buy. We already focus on the higher segment anyway; those producers simply seek out the finest olives. A three percent increase does not make much difference to their prices. At the lower end of the market, it is a different story.”
The supermarket oil, then?
“Yes, that is where the major problem lies. They have very low margins, so if the oil becomes three percent more expensive, they have to raise their prices. They do not want to do that, so some supermarkets say: then we simply will not buy it. There will therefore be less choice in the cheaper segment, or they will switch to olive oil from Tunisia or other countries.”
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