France: Why are the condiment industries worried?

The Federation of Condiment Industries of France (FICF*) warned on November 10 of the scarcity of the supply of olives this year, which will necessarily lead to a reduction in packaged and ready-to-eat olives and a sharp increase in prices. Mediterranean olive-producing countries have been suffering for two years from a drought which has reduced the flowering of olive trees, and intense heatwave episodes during the summer of 2023 have reduced the quantity and size of olives. The drop in volumes of table olives adds to strong pressure on the olive oil market, whose prices have tripled in two years after very poor 2022 and 2023 harvests. “A larger part of the olives will therefore be used for the production of olive oil, which is more profitable for producers than that of table olives,” regrets the FICF. In Spain, this will be the case for almost all Hojiblanca olives, as for the French Picholine variety. Morocco, whose domestic market demand remains very strong, will limit foreign ...