Olive oil producer prices are falling rapidly, currently hovering around 5 euros per liter

Olive oil producer prices are falling rapidly, currently hovering around 5 euros per liter, while costs are extremely high, with daily wages for harvesting reaching as much as €80, and the harvest in some areas reduced due to drought. However, the reduction in retail prices is expected after the holidays, with standardization companies in the sector claiming that from €11/l, which is the average price on the supermarket shelves for extra-virgin olive oil, it will fall to the level of €7-8/l.

Compared to last year, however, consumer prices for olive oil recorded an increase of 6.4%, as shown by the data of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) for inflation in November, and it remains to be seen in practice if and when price reductions will occur, as well as how intense they will be according to kathimerini.gr

The price decline is affecting the whole of Europe, with the olive oil price observatory for Spain – which also sets the market – giving a producer price of €4.14/l on Monday. “We are in a wait-and-see mode and no serious actions are being taken at the moment. Producers are resisting and do not want to sell at prices that they consider to be too low in relation to production costs. We are paying an average of €4.50/l this week,” Pavlos Kaplanis, a producer from Messinia who has an olive oil mill in the area, told Kathimerini.

“Traders are playing the Christmas game and are pressuring us for low prices. But this year the cost of production has skyrocketed and olive groves on Crete and throughout Greece are having problems due to the drought. We expected a production of 250,000 tons throughout the country this year, but in the end it will be reduced by 30,000 tons, as we estimate,” adds Myron Chiletzakis, president of the Small Cooperatives of Greece.

However, a rather nasty surprise awaits consumers after the holidays, as price increases in coffee products are expected, which, according to market players, will range from 10% to 30%. Global coffee rates are breaking one record after another, climbing in December to an all-time high of $349.58/pound.

Source: pagenews.gr