Monini: Producing extra virgin olive oil in Italy should not cost more than 6 euros

Zefferino Monini, president and CEO of the eponymous oil mill, caused a stir in September when he declared that the price of extra virgin olive oil on supermarket shelves would drop by 30-40 percent this year. But is this really the case? "We need to distinguish between products made in Italy and oil produced in the rest of Europe," Monini explains. "The harvest in Spain went well, as did the Portuguese one. Considering that blends of community oils are found in 85% of the bottles sold in supermarkets, prices are falling well below the ten euros recorded last year. More generally, there is such a quantity of extra virgin olive oil in the world that it can only lower prices." The Italian picture is different: "The initial forecasts for the 2024-2025 campaign," says Monini, "were too optimistic; it seems there will be very little oil this year. Some are already talking about the worst campaign since 1940. And this leads to an increase in the prices of Italian oil. The Umbrian one, ...