The export of Albanian olive oil has quadrupled in 2023 when compared to the rate it sold in 2022, according to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Arian Jaupllari, due in part to droughts in Spain and Italy resulting in lower production.
While droughts hit several parts of Europe in 2022, Albania witnessed a bumper olive harvesting season, with prices of olive oil around €4.60 a litre locally and a surplus of oil and olives on the local market. This, combined with low production in other parts of southern Europe, resulted in a production vacuum to the benefit of Albanian farmers.
The deputy minister told Monitor that farmers are returning oil to collection points to be exported to Italy to meet European demand. As a result, the Agriculture Ministry is implementing a strategy to support farmers with subsidies and other incentives to help reduce production costs and further bolster exports.
“Minister Krifca, together with her Italian counterpart Francesco Lollobrigida, have signed the cooperation agreement to promote olive and olive oil exports in the Italian and European market,” Jaupllari said.
He added, “These mechanisms and others were established, taking into consideration the effects of climate change, which have brought drought in Spain, Italy and France, creating the conditions to increase the competitiveness of Albanian olive oil.”
The deputy minister said that in the first four months of 2023, some 1,258 tonnes of Albanian olive oil were exported, compared to just 326 in the same period of 2022.
“The ministry, together with experts and the private sector, is continuing the cooperation so that the production and export of olive oil is another success story of Albanian agriculture”, he added.
Albanian olive oil is collected in Albania and exported, unprocessed, to Italy and Greece. It is then processed abroad and sold under international brands. However, Albanian farmers are selling oil at around €3.60 a litre for export, which they say is below the cost price.
But as most farmers do not have the proper conditions in which to store the oil, its nutritional value is lost, so they are forced to sell it. European companies then sell it at a big profit while also enjoying EU subsidies, like Greece, which gets €1 per litre from the state.
Jaupllari, said the ministry is already implementing a strategy to promote olive oil exports as an added value to the economy, starting with free oil subsidies for this crop through funds from the EU programme IPARD for the establishment of new oil processing points, the inclusion of farmers in the training scheme for service to olive groves, as well as the agreements signed with Italy for oil exports.
“The policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding olives and olive oil are completely clear, for the marketing of olive oil, including exports, based on the fact that we have increased production and growth in recent years,” he said.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
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