Global Olive Oil Market

Olive oil is perhaps the only product consumed and exchanged worldwide, mostly related to the Mediterranean; in the two-year period 2004/05 the non-Mediterranean countries covered less than 2, 5% of the world production. The market for olive oil is very complex: the production is spread between developed and developing countries, and is carried out through very different production systems, even within the same country. Olive oil is produced on a local level, but is exchanged worldwide; processing activities are dispersed, while bottling is more and more concentrated and the presence of multinationals is strong; at the same time, even the brands of small bottlers can turn out profitable if operating with efficient marketing strategies; the consumption of olive oil is growing, but the models of consumption vary widely, both regarding the quantity and the quality consumed; the market is segmented; in some countries and for some consumers (the richest and most educated ones) quality of the product is starting to assume a growing role in purchase decisions; the European Union, the largest producer and consumer of olive oil, protects tenaciously its internal market, although it grants preferential access to a number of Mediterranean countries; certain exporting countries are also relevant importers, as well as there are exporters that do not produce olive oil; finally, the market in olive oil is characterised by many conflicts of interest that are developed vertically and horizontally between protagonists, be it along the "spinneret", or within the same country, or among players from different countries.