Italy: Olive oil production at historic lows across Europe

What is looming for olive oil, in Italy and in Europe, is one of the worst scenarios ever experienced. In Italy, the production of the 2022-23 vintage is approaching its historical minimum with around 200 thousand tons (at the beginning of the 2000s we were still over 700 thousand), but above all Spain will record, after years of continuous growth (always above one million tons down to the records of 2013 and 2018 with almost 1.8 million), a sharp drop: less than 900 thousand tons are expected this year. In the last twenty years, thanks to its overproduction, the Iberian country has ensured the product on the markets and controlled prices. In short, there is no olive oil. A supply hole that will be heavy for Italy which, compared to a production now stabilized at around 2-300 thousand tons, as well as being an important consumer (on average, families buy 600 thousand tons a year) is also a important exporter (export travels around 400 thousand tons). Not having sufficient ...