Soaring expenses strain producers in Southern Europe

Rising production costs are straining the olive oil sector in southern Europe amid a second-consecutive poor harvest for countries across the Mediterranean basin. A recent survey showed olive oil production costs doubled in Spain between 2020 and 2023. The situation is not much better in Italy, Greece and beyond. “Olive farming has faced challenges and difficult conditions in the last two years at a global level,” Stella Thedodosiou, deputy director of Sevitel, the association of Greek olive oil bottlers, told Olive Oil Times. ​“These challenges have been transferred to all nodes of the production chain.” “In the post-Covid era, we have all been called to face the consequences of the war in Ukraine, with energy costs skyrocketing,” she added. ​“They remain at very high levels these days.” In its latest update to the olive production costs, the Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities (Aemo) warned of the profound impact of the significantly reduced olive oil production on the ...