Olive Oil Market Digest w45

Weekly Olive Oil Market Updates

Olive Price Updates

The data given in the latest update by the Union of Olive Oil-Producing Municipalities of Crete show that the negative trend of EVOO prices at origin in Greece still endures, stemming from the slight fall in commercial activity. According to our agents, we will be able to shape a final picture of this year's prices in about one month, when the harvest season will reach its end. 

At the same time, we can see a slight correction of the EVOO wholesale prices in Andalucia, with the demand for olive oil slightly rebounding after the steep drop of the previous weeks. 

As for Spanish prices at the oil mill, for the area of Jaén in Andalucia the last update we had (in Nov 8) shared a mean price of €7.43 for EVOO, slightly more competitive than the Greek counterpart.

Paralegal Factors Behind Italian Olive Oil Prices at Origin

The prices shared by ISMEA Mercati (with a one-week delay) show a downward trend, with a mean of around €8.37. According to market witnesses, this constitutes the result of market manipulations promoted by oil mills under the auspices of big retail players, to benefit the latter profit-wise; lower cost for olive oil, complete with resistant high self prices, give forth exceptionally high margins to retailers.

This phenomenon once again shows the implications of the lack of transparency in agricultural supply chains. A collaborative 360-degree approach is proven necessary to implicitly impose the due diligence on behalf of every market participant, through the constant monitoring by their partners along the chain of value.

First Commercial Transactions for Kalamon Olives

The first transaction for this season's table Kalamon olives took place in Atalanti, a town in the olive grove-rich region of Pthiotis. The common packaging of 200 pieces of mid-sized olives was sold for about €1.70/Kg, lower than the estimates we shared last week, which placed it at about €1.90/Kg.

No matter what, the current conditions in the olive oil market will continue to support high prices in the table olives market, as they will push many farmers to either get their produce to the oil mill or store it to sell next year, in hopes that the market conditions.

That is even worse if we also take into consideration the 40-50% fall in olives production in Greece, according to the latest estimates, which is going to make them rather scarce.

The whole situation is really detrimental to the Greek brand of table olives, because producers are dissuaded from further showcasing the great quality of their olives, which are in great demand for exports but are scarce due to the current olive oil market conditions.

Further Cases of Producers Organising in Cooperations

Last week we witnessed yet another case of players in the olives sector organizing in a producers' organization; this time, this happened in Italy. Italia Olivicola brings together thousands of producers, mainly of organic, monovarietal olive oil with a protected designation of origin. It supports farmers with holdings of all scales in the production of their product, as well as the logistics and processing operations taking place as part of the value chain for olive oil.

This is a great development, as such an organization will help even smaller players market their products in the best terms possible. Also, the promotion of a national brand for Italian olive oil will contribute to preventing detrimental practices of various players, since such behaviors are more easily detected and severely punished in a collaborative environment. 

These practices have had detrimental effects on the olive oil market of other countries, and especially Greece, for years, and we're mainly talking about the practice of illegally importing Greek olive oil and re-branding it as Italian before selling it in very high prices, reaping a big part of the product's added value away from the producer.

To help B2B olive oil buyers navigate through these conditions, Wikifarmer negotiates with several suppliers to secure a steady supply of Olive oil at reasonable prices. Our team can help you with price negotiation, pay with credit terms, and arrange logistics and transportation. We also implement strict Quality Assurance procedures, making sure that producers provide us with all certificates that prove their claims about their products, and that all relevant analyses take place. 

Our contribution is not constrained just to the facilitation of value optimization for the various market players. We also invest a lot in making sure that our highly-valued partners, either from the supply or from the demand side, keep up with the latest developments in their fields.

This is why we have created Wikifarmer Academy, in order to offer affordable educational courses to all. The Wikifarmer Academy is an online school that aims to provide complete educational courses that will empower you and help you cultivate more efficiently and sustainably. In case you are interested in learning more, check our new course "Wikifarmer Expert in Sustainable Olive Oil Production, Quality, and Economics" here.