They patrol their olives to prevent them from being stolen

Tribute in oil production and frequent thefts of olive fruits did AP News, focusing on the production in the area of ​​Spata, a few meters from the airport.
In the AP footage, olive producer Konstantinos Markou patrols his estates in Paiana. As the report points out, across the Mediterranean the recent summer fires and subsequent floods have damaged production and a tradition that has thrived for centuries. Olive oil production is also affected by the effects of the climate crisis, with prices rising rapidly.

Mr. Markou, speaking to AP, says that the “olive robbers” can produce more oil than the owners themselves, while he emphasizes that he is forced to patrol at night.

Thefts obviously mean fewer olives for the growers already facing high production costs and climate change which has brought warmer winters, major floods and more intense wildfires, according to the report.

In southern Italy, farmers are calling on the police to form a “security force” for agriculture. In Greece, farmers are calling for the reinstatement of the rural police (or Hellenic Agricultural Guard) which was phased out in 2010.

And in Spain, a company has developed tracking devices that look like olives to track down would-be thieves.

Most thefts, as the AP notes, they even concern the whole tree. The perpetrators cut down the tree, load the pieces into a truck, and then sell the wood and take the olives to oil mills. In many cases, they cut the branches that bear the most fruit.

An olive mill owner reports that “the bandits are looking for heavily loaded branches and cutting them”. “So not only do they steal our olives, but they cause serious damage to the tree. It takes 4-5 years to return to normal”. In the summer, an alarm was sounded the mammoth theft of 52 tons of olive oil worth more than 370,000 euros from a Halkidiki cooperative. Similar incidents occur in other olive oil producing countries.

Thefts drive some growers to harvest earlier, which means they accept lower yields to avoid long-term damage to their trees. A farmer with 5,000 olive trees says he was repeatedly attacked by thieves before he decided to harvest early. “And all this after we spent nights guarding our fields. The situation is horrible”, he says, stressing that he had half of the expected production. Many, however, hire private security to do patrols which is an extra cost for them.

Another risk factor is chronic drought. Production is expected to shrink in Spain, while worldwide output is expected to fall to 2.5 million metric tons (mt), from 3.4 million a year earlier.

Prices soared

Reference values in Spain, Greece and Italy for virgin olive oil reached 9 euros per liter in September, more than tripling their level compared to 2019. This translates into higher prices for consumers. In Greece, a 1 liter bottle of extra virgin oil jumped from 8.5 euros in 2022 to 14 this year. Already in Spain this year there is a reduction in the consumption of up to 82% of the use of olive oil and its replacement by seed oils.

The arrests in Spain, Greece and Italy continue, while farmers in Bari report that the attackers hit warehouses as well as tractors and olive harvesting equipment. “What is happening is a crime. They are killing our very history here,” Mr. Markou told AP.

It is worth noting here that, as ERT noted in its report, there is also the permanent problem of “undervaluation” of Greek olive oil in terms of its export part, which in the best years concerns approximately 250,000 tons out of the total 350,000 of our production (with the 100,000 to cover internal demand).

The sales of Greek producers abroad were always done at low prices, in relation to the quality of our oil, with 82% of its production being extra virgin. However, even in such a year of shortages, foreign companies are trading Greek oil that they have acquired for just 5-5.5 euros in the previous months. This is a chronic problem of commerciality, better utilization and branding mainly of external sales of Greek oil.

How accurate was the olive oil?

The increase in the price of olive oil can be seen in the gallop of the price which multiplied within a few months.

Prices for Greece

Olive oil 4 liters: €18.90 in 2022, €56.76 in 2023

1 liter (refined and virgin): €5.18 in 2022, €12.50 in 2023

5 liters extra virgin: €39.95 in 2022, €79.45 in 2023

End, according to the Commission’s forecasts, olive oil prices in the EU will remain high for another year. due to the extreme weather events that affected production in the major production areas. As pointed out, the 2023/2024 olive growing season that we are going through is expected to show an increase in production, but by only 9% compared to the already low levels of 2022/2023.

For Greece in particular, the Commission expects that production in the 2023/2024 season will decrease by approximately 20% on an annual basis.