How Greek olive oil becomes ‘Italian’

Greek Olive Oil Goes ‘Italian’
Greece is the second-largest supplier to the Italian olive oil industry, according to an analysis of the Italian olive oil sector conducted by the Economic and Commercial Affairs Office of the Greek Embassy in Milan.

In 2021, over 75% of Greek olive oil exports went to Italy in bulk. This means that Greece supplied over 111,000 tons of the 500,000 tons of olive oil imported by Italy, representing nearly 22% of all olive oil imports from Italy last year.

Italy’s largest supplier is Spain, with a share reaching 61.53%. Most olive oil producers in Greece choose to export their product in bulk to Italy at fairly low rates, prices even lower than those they export to other countries.

Italian companies standardize it and sell it for more than double the price. At the same time, there are no Greek-branded olive oil products in Italian supermarkets. The value of Greek olive oil exports to Italy amounted to €345.5 million in 2021, up 16.33 percent from 2020.

Greek olive oil arrives in Italy in bulk

One of the main reasons producers choose bulk sales to Italy is that many Greeks produce olive oil themselves or have relatives who produce it and supply the oil in bulk.

Furthermore, most cooperatives focus on selling bulk olive oil in Italy, according to market analysts. However, Greek producers and exporters do not get the added value of branded olive oil.

According to the report, Italian importers tend to pay less for Greek olive oil than for that produced in Italy. According to historical data, until 2020, 1 kg of imported Greek extra virgin olive oil cost Italian traders less than 3 euros compared to the price of Italian oil, which was around 3.70 euros.

Italians make blends

Medit Hellas, a company based in Patras, Greece, that exports unpackaged olive oil to Italy, states that Greek producers depend on Italian traders. Large Italian producing and bottling companies largely make the decisions in the Greek olive oil sector.

Italy bottles 800,000 to 900,000 tons of olive oil each season, with the country’s production ranging between 250,000 and 300,000 tons. They need much more olive oil, which they buy from other producing countries, including Greece and Spain, and always in bulk to make blends.

Only 30% of the olive oil bottled in Italy is exclusively of Italian origin.

This is because the widely accepted high quality of Italian olive oil is critical to its success in global markets. Furthermore, the long-standing practice of Italian bottlers sourcing Greek olive oil and blending it has resulted in a form of blended olive oil. This blend is registered in the global consumer consciousness as a “Made in Italy” product.

This gives the world the false perception that Italian olive oil is of superior quality compared to neighboring Mediterranean countries. Branded Greek olive oil is absent from the Italian market.

Furthermore, bottle labels are not as informative and comprehensive as those on other food products, such as yogurt and feta cheese. Therefore, it is impossible to know the exact country of production of the olive oil used in Italian blends.

Measures for Greek Exporters

The analysis proposed a set of measures that Greek producers and exporters should take to penetrate the Italian market with branded olive oils. These include regular participation in food fairs and olive oil competitions held in Italy and organising familiarisation trips for Italian journalists and traders. In addition, there are trips to mills and bottling facilities in Greece, and food bloggers and influencers from Italy are invited to tasting events.

However, considering that Italy has created an image of itself as the world’s leading exporter of high-quality olive oil, this would be a major risk for them. It could jeopardize Italy’s image as an exporter of high-quality olive oil. This could result in a decline in exports.

Greek olive oil, Greece’s “liquid gold”

Greek olive oil is synonymous with Greek tradition.Greek, as well as a healthy diet and rich history. The country’s “liquid gold,” as Homer called it, is an irreplaceable nutritional component for all Greeks. In fact, ancient Greeks consumed olive oil for a long and healthy life, both as a food and as an essential treatment for skin and hair.

Today, olives and olive oil are staples in Greek homes, where they are used in salads or as essential ingredients in much of Greek cuisine. Olive oil is an integral part of nearly every popular Greek dish, from Greek salad to moussaka and tzatziki to spanakopita.

Over the centuries, it has become synonymous with Greece. The image of an olive tree or olive grove represents Greece as much as the sunset on the Aegean Sea. Today, many consider Greek olive oil to be the best in the world. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) accounts for at least 80% of olive oil production in Greece. In Crete, it accounts for nearly 90%.

Rich and aromatic, Greek olive oil is produced exclusively from green olives. Its color, aroma, and flavor depend on the olive variety, the location, and the type of soil where it is grown. The environmental and climatic conditions in which the olive tree is grown and cultivated are also important.