As you’re reading, here’s what directly affects your manufacturing / distribution company:
The popularity of olive oil is still on the rise, and has been for over 25 years. With the growth of gourmet retail shops across the US and much more conversation about olive oil quality and origins, consumers are likely to have an increase in demand for olive oil in the future.
Organizations like the North American Olive Oil Association and the Californian Olive Oil Association continue to work to increase the consumer demand for quality olive oil across the US.
Most of the olive oil produced in the world is coming from Spain. When imported to the US, it is typically coming from Spain or Italy. In times of plentiful production, these countries are where you will find the cheapest prices.
In times of poor production, similar to what Spain has experienced in it’s most recent 2014/15 harvest, these countries hold such a monopoly on production that prices go up globally.
If your goal is to maintain the lowest prices and consistent quality, it’s best to look to alternative countries of origin. If you need to maintain the same origin or taste profile, it’s best to ride out the highs and lows of the commodity market.
The import of olive oil in the US continues to grow. Since 1990, the amount of olive oil imported into the US has tripled, rising from 100,000 metric tons of imported olive oil to 300,000. This clearly shows the growing demand and popularity for olive oil within the United States.
Most of these imports are coming from Mediterranean countries. In the 2013/14 harvest, 86% of these US imports came from European countries. This is up from 71% the year before. In review of the 2014 year, the top EU importing countries are shown below in the order of greatest to least olive oil import volume:
As you can see from the numbers above, 44% of the imported olive oils that were brought to the US came from Italy. 40% of olive oil that was imported came from Spain.
It’s interesting to note that depending on the year, Spain typically produces 50% of the worlds olive oil while Italy’s production is smaller, so it’s quite likely that much of the olive oil imported from Italy is packed and bottled there, but may not have been produced there or come from Italian olive trees.
The most common grades being imported into the US are shown as follows:
Source: IOC December 2014 Newsletter