Olive oil, still a difficult season for the Italian harvest

Italy is the second largest olive oil producer in the world after Spain, with a 15% share, the second largest exporter and the largest consumer, with 8.2 litres per head per year. Our country also holds the world record for varieties, with more than 500 genotypes of olives for oil from which the largest number of extra virgin olive oils with denomination in Europe comes (42 PDO and 8 PGI).

This was announced by Ismea on the occasion of the first forecasts for the 2024-2025 season presented in Rome at the event organised by Confagricoltura and Costa d'Oro for the presentation of the Manifesto della produzione olivicola sostenibile.

"The campaign that has just started looks anything but abundant," explained Ismea's Tiziana Sarnari, "despite the fact that almost all the main competitors are showing positive signs. The situation in Italy is different, for which the estimated drop is a combination of the natural alternation and the various climatic adversities that have occurred again this year. The exceptional production situation of the past two years has disrupted the market with exceptional price increases. The Italian product has exceeded the 9 euro per kilo threshold for months.

World consumption is slowly but steadily growing, but climate change and extreme events, such as floods and droughts,' Ismea points out, 'have impacted production. In this scenario, economic productivity and sustainability become the two drivers for the growth of the sector, leveraging both the millenary Italian olive-growing tradition and modern agricultural technologies. The Italian sector in fact needs innovation, investment and collaboration between the players in the supply chain, overcoming the excessive fragmentation of the production structure (the average Italian olive grove has an extension of just 2 hectares).

"It is necessary to be competitive on the global market and, at the same time, concrete in tackling the various problems," the analysis emphasises, "such asthe effects of climate change, the difficulties in modernising plants, the delay in incorporating innovations, and the abandonment of olive groves in areas where the olive tree represents a valuable landscape resource, which is also fundamental for preventing hydrogeological instability.