Olive

The Municipality of Thessaloniki has begun harvesting olives from the olive trees spread throughout the city in order to produce, for the first time, its own municipal organic olive oil.

Olive oil is now taking on epidemic proportions, fuelled by the high prices that persist, but also by the relatively low mood caused by climate change.

Olive oil supply in Europe is set to rise sharply in the year ahead as top producer Spain recovers from drought, though it was unclear if households hurt by record prices will revert to the Mediterranean specialty, the European Commission has said.

Olive oil production is expected to surpass last year's figures, raising hopes for lower prices in stores.

George Oikonomou, the general manager of the Greek olive oil producers' union, told AMNA that production is projected to reach between 220,000 and 230,000 tons.

After struggling to find harvest workers, retired National Technical University of Athens professor Nikos Stavrakakis has invited students to work in olive groves for the next three months. Inspired by similar initiatives in the Netherlands, Stavrakakis hopes to both fill a labor gap and provide students with an income.

With restrictions on exports eased and output expected to surge this year, Türkiye's olive oil producers are focusing on large markets, such as the U.S., Australia, and Japan.

Türkiye ranks fifth in olive oil production and third in olive production globally.

Snowfall broke out at noon on Wednesday, September 11, in the Clennia area of Corinth.

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As can be seen from the photos of koronthostv.gr, the hail is quite intense and covered a large part of the olive groves, resulting in damage to the olives.

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Lesvos produces so much olive oil that it was traditionally used not only for cooking but also for food preservation. The most well-known example is the local ladotyri (olive oil cheese), a type of sheep's milk cheese known as kefalaki, which was traditionally stored in olive oil-filled jars to mature and preserve.

With all eyes on the olive groves (as the price of olive oil is the protagonist and driver of food inflation), consumers are waiting to find out if this season holds more inflation. Although the signals are currently contradictory – as consumption is declining, but production is also declining due to the climate crisis – there is a trend of de-escalation. But that is one side of the story.

Greek olive oil production is expected to be moderate to good this year, according to current forecasts for 2024, the president of the National Interprofessional Olive Oil Organization (EDOE), Manolis Giannoulis, told state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

Production is anticipated to range between 250,000 and 280,000 tons.