The price of olive oil is set to rise in Portugal after a 30% drop in production in 2016, to less than 491,000 tonnes, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, agriculture minister Capoulas Santos said that the past year was very bad for agriculture and caused production losses in several sectors, especially olive oil. He expects that the loss resulting from the reduction of the quantities produced will be partly offset by the rise in prices.
The minister explained that the production of olives is traditionally characterised by a year of high yield followed invariably by a smaller harvest, a cycle which both operators and farmers are accustomed to experiencing.
Asked about the influence of falling olive production on olive oil exports, the minister said that large export companies have stocks and that he believes that "there will be no problems in supplying traditional Portuguese markets".
Domestic retailer Jerónimo Martins, owner of supermarket chain Pingo Doce, believes that the fall in olive production will make olive oil more expensive and will lead consumers to look for other alternatives, such as vegetable oil, margarine or butter.
For its part, Lidl Portugal does not expect any major price fluctuations in view of the existing olive oil stocks.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
