Italy has further downgraded the forecast of olive-oil production for 2016, to 243,000 tonnes, representing a 49% drop compared to last year (474,620 tonnes).
This comes after last year’s excellent production results, which, in some areas of southern Italy, reached record levels.
According to the Italian Consortium of Olive Growers (ISMEA) and the Italian Consortium of Olive-Oil Producers (Unaprol), the negative effects of a decidedly averse climate with bizarre alternations of hot, cold and rainy weather contributed to the drop in production this year.
Southern Italy has been particularly affected, mainly the regions of Puglia (production down by 50%), Calabria (-53%) and Sicily (-52%), while in Central Italy, the drop was slightly above 40%. Going against the grain was Northern Italy, where the weather conditions were more favourable and it was easier to control and ward off diseases due to the reduced sizes of the production areas.
The markets have been fast to react, taking the average price of extra virgin oil to €5.52/kg in mid-November, while on the Bari market, they have already reached €5.70/kg (compared to €3.80/kg in September).
For its part, the umbrella association of European farmers and cooperatives, Copa-Cogeca, said that olive-oil production was down by over 10% across Europe in the marketing year 2016/2017, due to the combined effects of bad weather, pests and disease, with prices expected to rise.
Production should drop by 30% in France, by 20-30% in Portugal, and over 37% in Italy. More modest decreases are expected in Spain (-7%), Croatia (from -8 to -10%) and Cyprus (-15%). Overall product quality is good, and prices are expected to increase across the Continent.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
