Silver lining for Australian olives as import costs surge

By Laura Thomas

An unexpected silver lining is emerging for producers of quality Australian olives, as the economic shock-waves of war continue to ripple across the global marketplace.

Ongoing conflict in the Middle East is significantly disrupting international supply chains, prolonging delivery timeframes and driving up costs.

And while this is causing supply challenges and increasing production costs for Australian farmers, it’s also levelling the playing field on local supermarket shelves.

The cost of a bottle of imported olive oil is expected to rise significantly in the near future.

This is good news for Australian producers, as price parity with European imports makes quality homegrown olives a more cost-effective option for shoppers.

Australian growers produced 110,000 tonnes olives in 2025, turning out 20 million litres of quality olive oil. A further 3,000 tonnes were grown for table olive production.

Supplementing this domestic supply is 30-40 million litres of olive oil, imported predominantly from Spain and 17,000 tonnes of table olives, mostly from Greece.

Australian Olive Association Chief Executive Officer Michael Southan said increasing prices for imported goods were expected to make local EVOO and olive products more price competitive.

“The appetite for EVOO continues to grow, with latest industry figures showing Australians consume an average of 2 litres each, every year,” he said.

“Small batch, quality Australian olive oils and products may be the premium choice, but they often struggle to remain cost-competitive in a marketplace flooded with much cheaper, imported options.

“We would expect this ongoing global tension to level the playing field somewhat and make Australian-grown olives the first choice for cost-savvy shoppers.

“This is good news at a time when farmers and small business owners everywhere are really struggling.”

Mr Southan encouraged producers to continue to promote the benefits of buying home-grown, produced and industry certified Australian olives.

“There’s no better time than now for consumers to buy quality, Australian EVOO and table olives,” he said.

Sources:
www.forbes.com
www.australianolives.com.au