Olive oil: with prices plummeting, producers are threatening to leave the olives on the trees
The sharp rebound in Spanish production has triggered a slump in prices. For ‘Made in Italy’ products, prices have fallen by 47 per cent in a year. Unapol sounds the alarm: olive groves at risk of being abandoned
Key points
Olive oil prices are in free fall, causing serious hardship for olive growers who, with the olive harvest just around the corner (and in some cases already underway), are considering leaving the fruit on the trees. This decision, bordering on desperation, is a prelude to the abandonment of the olive groves.
Two thousand olive growers take to the streets in Bari
This is the gist of the cry of distress issued by Unapol, one of the leading organisations representing olive growers, which – in the wake of the protest by 2,000 olive growers held on 12 October in Piazza Prefettura in Bari – is now calling for the authorities to take action.
Prices for extra virgin olive oil have halved in just a few months
Among the main concerns – as highlighted by Unapol – is the fall in olive oil prices. In November 2025, prices stood at 9.20 euros per kilo; today they range between 4 and 4.20 euros, with reports of prices as low as 3.80 euros. This significant slump poses a risk not only to the economic viability of the new harvest but also to the future of many farms.
An upward trend triggered by the rebound in Spanish production (+29%)
A trend triggered, following two years of supply shortages (due to drought), by a strong recovery in Spanish production. Initial production estimates for Spain forecast a yield of 1.6 million tonnes, a full 29 per cent higher than in the previous marketing year. If confirmed, the Spanish harvest would bring total Spanish supply at the start of the marketing year close to the highest levels ever recorded in the 2021–22 marketing year.
Areté: Italian sales plummet by 47 per cent in a year
Hence the downward spiral in prices. “The extra virgin olive oil market,” announced Areté – Italia’s leading company in monitoring agri-food commodity prices – “is heading into the 2026–27 season with supply recovering and prices falling sharply compared with the peaks of the last two years. “During 2026,” Areté continues, “prices for EU extra virgin olive oil have returned to their lowest levels since 2022, whilst Italian extra virgin olive oil has seen a 47 per cent drop in the last year alone.”
