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A new report on a huge potential to sell olive oil to China also comes with a warning – opportunists there are already cashing in by selling adulterated oil. According to The Olive Oil Market in China 2012 from the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX), “this malpractice risks tainting the Chinese consumer perception that olive oil is a high quality product.”
US Senator Charles E. Schumer has called on the US Department of Agriculture to reject plans to change the standards for olive oil in the United States, a move that could have devastating consequences for Sovena and its 200 employees in Rome (USA), he said. Schumer is urging government officials to disregard a “costly and ineffective” proposed marketing order that would change the standard definitions, testing methodology and labeling guidelines for domestically sold olive oils.
A province in southern Italy has dedicated a 1,400-year-old olive tree known as “The Queen” to US First Lady Michelle Obama because of her commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles. Lecce province in the farming region of Apulia said that the roughly 100 litres of extra-virgin olive oil made from the fruits of the giant tree would be sent to the White House every year starting this fall. The initiative is being supported by local farmers including the “Sant’Anna Cooperative,” which manages the 1,500 hectares where the tree is located.
There has been a record harvest of olives in Spain this winter with production totalling over 1.56 tons. But this bumper crop could be necessary to weather the storm after low rainfall and frost this winter has damaged predictions for the coming year.
On April 25, Israel ordered Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya, a major West Bank olive producing village, to uproot 1,400 trees by the end of the month. By comparison, this order is 400 more trees than the total number uprooted in all of 2011.
The US organic market grew 9.5% last year, breaking the $30bn barrier for the first time, and continuing to outpace sales of non-organic food, according to a new report from the Organic Trade Association (OTA).
The Spanish have long been proclaiming the olive as the ideal snack. Now it seems the rest of the world is catching on, with British consumers prefering the more sophisticated olives to the old fashioned bar snack of peanuts. Tesco – the country’s biggest supermarket – has revealed olive sales rose by 44% in 2010, while peanut sales stayed stagnant.
The March-May 2012 edition of Australia & New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor hit letterboxes over the last week and is providing great reading across our two continents. Highlights are comprehensive coverage of the 2012 Olives New Zealand Conference and Olives to Oil Workshop, along with features on processing, pruning and frost. This edition also has the first of the 2012 harvest predictions, covering Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. If you haven’t got yours, subscribe now
An olive grower has plunged into a bath of olive oil on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra to protest against cheap and dodgy olive oil imports. Richard Whiting, from Frances in South Australia, stripped down to his swimmers and claimed Australian consumers have been duped by supermarkets and the ACCC. He says Australia has a labelling standard for extra virgin oil that’s not being enforced.
We’ll bring you more on the event, and any outcomes, in the June-July edition of Olivegrower & Processor.
ABARES is delivering commodity forecasts, research and analysis directly to rural and regional Australia at the2012 series of one-day Regional Outlook conferences. Promoting industry productivity, community vitality and environmental sustainability, the 2012 conferences will balance national and regional perspectives; focus on the future; and emphasise agricultural, fisheries and forestry strategies that work in a context of economic volatility and climatic variability. Delegates from businesses, government, and the community will discuss industry trends, access forecasts and other information, make new contacts in their community and be exposed to new ideas while gaining an understanding of global issues that affect their region. Seven conferences held around Australia, starting with Berri on May 16. More information https://www.daff.gov.au/abares/conferences-events/regional-outlook