The battle for green gold: “Foreign olive oil passed off as Italian, while ours sits bottled up in tanks”

The language farmers use when protesting can sound melodramatic. “Harvest season is about to begin, and we can no longer afford to harvest tears,” one farmer proclaimed from the stage in Piazza Prefettura in Bari, where the first demonstration took place last Monday. But this time, there is no exaggeration. According to figures certified by the Ministry of Agriculture, 195,044 tons of extra virgin olive oil remain in storage tanks—a 46.7% increase compared to a year ago. Full storage tanks More than half of these stockpiles are concentrated in the South, particularly in Puglia and Calabria, as well as in Tuscany. According to producers, the fault lies in the weaknesses of the "Made in Italy" system, so proudly championed by the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida. The undeniable reality is that storage tanks are full, and last year’s production simply cannot be cleared. While extra virgin prices were soaring as high as 10 euros per kilogram until January (the wholesale market measures oil by weight, not volume), prices have now plunged to 4 euros on the market in Foggia, according to figures from ISMEA, the institute for agricultural and food market services. Banking troubles As a result, mill owners—who typically buy olives well in advance—have become heavily overextended with their banks. Having purchased olives at prices far higher than what the oil can fetch today, they are now refusing to buy from growers as the new harvest gets underway, leaving farmers equally stranded. Rallied under the evocative name Orgoglio Olivicolo ("Olive-Growing Pride"), the farmers are demanding an "extraordinary banking moratorium"—a measure that can only be granted if the government declares a state of agricultural crisis. “We’ve been asking for this since March,” says Gennaro Sicolo, regional director of CIA - Italian Farmers in Puglia. Agricultural xenophobia The most pressing demand is voiced by the elderly Count Onofrio Spagnoletti Zeuli, heir to a historic landowning family from Andria: “We need strict inspections. Too many crooks are importing substandard oil, mixing it with our oil, and passing it off as extra virgin.” It is a form of agricultural xenophobia directed against non-EU oils that, entering the market at bargain prices, have dragged down the value of domestic oil as well. Francesco Paolicelli, the regional commissioner for agriculture, is pushing for electronic documentation to improve the traceability of the product’s origin. Meanwhile, Vito Leccese, the Mayor of Bari—directly challenged by protesting farmers to “go check what’s actually being sold in supermarkets”—has written to the head of the local health authority (ASL), calling for an "extraordinary campaign of sampling and analysis of extra virgin olive oil sold in Bari, with inspections at both major retailers and neighborhood shops, starting with 100% Italian oils sold at unusually low prices." He is also asking for checks on pesticide residues—another suspicion raised by olive growers, who fear chemical levels may be higher in oils imported from countries where products banned in Italy are still permitted. Is Spain to blame? Yet to find the main culprit behind Italy’s olive oil crisis, one might need to look to Spain rather than Tunisia. Two years ago, a severe drought crippled Spanish production, giving Italian competitors a temporary boost. Today, Spain’s highly mechanized olive sector has rebounded in a major way. “In the upcoming season,” explains Dora De Santis, representative of the Italian Olive Oil Industry Association, “production is projected to reach 1.6 million tons. This has brought trading of our product to a complete standstill.” The result is an enormous price gap on supermarket shelves between Italian oils and those from other EU countries. Italian oils, which have significantly higher production costs, sell for twice as the price of their European counterparts. “We have asked major retailers to communicate more effectively to consumers the added value behind that price difference,” says De Santis. Meanwhile, Maria Lisa Clodoveo, a professor of food technology, defends Tunisian oil: “Ninety-five percent of their olive cultivation is traditional, using minimal chemical fertilizers.” This article was reviewed by an external translation partner