The countries of Europe are struggling to recover from the protracted crisis. The difficult economic situation also affected the main production sectors. Europe is faced with a new problem - the "olive crisis".
The price of olive oil or, as it is also called, "Mediterranean gold" dropped to its lowest level in the last 10 years - $ 2,900 per ton. Even seven years ago, the prices for this product were more than twice as high and amounted to $ 6,000 per ton.
The reason for such a significant collapse in prices is the euro crisis. Expensive olive oil is no longer affordable for ordinary Europeans. The result is obvious - the demand for the product is falling, while the EU countries are the main consumers of olive oil, accounting for 64% of world consumption. Today, even in Italy and Greece, whose cuisine is unthinkable without the use of olive oil, the demand for this product has dropped to the level of 17 years ago.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the world leaders in the production of olive oil - Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, more than other European countries felt the impact of the crisis. First of all, we are talking about Spain, which provides more than 43% of the supply of olive oil to the world market.
It is difficult for consumers to abandon the use of a familiar product, but Europeans have no extra money to buy it. Producers and farmers are in the most difficult situation, who have to decide what to do with the unclaimed harvest, which promises to be a record large this year.
Fanis Vlakolias, head of the Greek olive company Sparta Kefalas Olive Oil, commented: “In the worst case scenario, our production will have to be stopped and the company closed. This will lead to the fact that all our work will go to dust, and the industry will be thrown back 10 years."
The EU can influence the "olive crisis" and help solve the problem by buying surplus crops from producers and farmers. At the same time, the financiers are persistently calling on the European Central Bank to buy up the debts of the same EU countries.
