Simon Hunter
SPAIN’S main associations of olive oil producers are warning that cooperatives and major retailers are running worryingly low on stock of the country’s so-called ‘liquid gold’, due to the poor harvests seen over the past two years because of an ongoing drought.
The farmers’ union Asaja, for example, in Malaga province, said that such a critical situation has never been seen since mass consumption of olive oil began and the central government started regularly tracking stock levels, La Opinion de Malaga newspaper reported.
But the president of Asaja, Baldomero Bellido, said that empty shelves are not likely to be seen given that major distributors tend to have their own reserves.
“But what we could see is fewer bottles of oil than usual in some sales points,” he told the newspaper.
“We are going to see a period when national stocks will be practically non-existent, toward the end of this month, but fortunately the new harvest will begin in October and reserves will be built back up,” he added.
Rainfall in the spring of this year should mean that the harvest will be better this year than that of the past two seasons, which were badly affected by drought across Spain.
“The reality is that the last season saw just 2% more tonnes produced compared to two years ago, but both of those years ended with 50% lower production of oil in [Malaga] province compared to the average in the five years prior to the ongoing drought,” Bellido explained.
