Increasing our olive oil exports
This year has been declared «the year of the olive and olive oil» as part of a concerted government initiative to promote the country’s most significant agricultural product in foreign markets. Six ministries have joined forces and are combining their efforts to make this goal a reality. And these are hardly excessive measures. Of the 3 million tons of olive oil produced every year on a global level, 75 percent originates from three Mediterranean countries: Spain generates about 1 million tons, followed by Italy with some 900,000 tons and then Greece with 400,000 tons. The problem with Greek olive oil exports is that only 6 percent reaches foreign shores as a pure, standardized product. The remainder of the oil is purchased in bulk by – mostly Italian – businesses who adulterate it with their own olive oil, resulting in a massive loss of revenue for Greek olive producers. Last year, the value of olive oil exports was around 300 million euros, but it would have been double this had all the goods been standardized. So the government is quite right to focus its program on standardizing our olive oil, informing the public about its benefits but also improving its quality. There is no point in standardizing our olive oil if we fail to conduct strict quality tests. Our country’s strong track record in producing olive oil should not lull us into a false sense of security. International competition will soon get much stiffer as olive oil production increases in countries which are extremely good at promoting their goods on the international market, such as China, the USA and Australia. Our country is full of olive trees and olive oil; they constitute a basic element of regional development. Greece’s olive producers number around 600,000. It would be unforgivable if we were to lose this opportunity to promote a product which Greece has been exporting for thousands of years.
