California Fruit and Vegetable

Tag: Olive oil

  • Olive Oil Explodes in Demand with Record Crop

    The Olive Oil Conference was a massive success that mirrored the outlook of the industry. Demand is skyrocketing for olive oil and acreage is expanding as California growers brought in a record harvest. Executive Director for the Olive Oil Commission of California Todd Sanders spoke with Matthew Malcolm from California Ag Network to discuss the latest in the industry. Watch this quick video and learn more in California Fruit & Vegetable Magazine.

    Please thank this video’s sponsor Simplot for their industry support.

  • EU Faces Domestic Olive Oil Shortage

    In MY 2023/24, the EU is facing a second consecutive short olive oil production crop. Consumer price increases resulting from the limited domestic availability will contribute to reduced consumption. The short crop will also preempt exports from expanding for the second consecutive year, while also continuing to push stock levels down.

    Production, Supply, and Demand

    Production

    Source: FAS Europe Posts.

    N.B.: Post trade and production data include only HS Code 1509.

    Estimates based on precipitation levels to date, temperatures during the olive trees flowering season, and the subsequent extreme summer heat waves that resulted in unripe fruit dropping, indicate that the European Union’s (EU) olive oil output in MY 2023/24 could amount to just above 1.4 million Metric Tons (MT).

    Olive harvest in the EU runs from fall to the beginning of spring. While spring conditions determine flowering and summer temperatures influence fruit development, fall precipitations still play a role in final output levels. Olive tree’s alternative bearing also plays a role in production volumes. New plantations under irrigation entering production also continue to soften the impact of alternative bearing in olive oil production levels across the EU. The EU’s olive oil production is concentrated in a handful of Member States. The EU is the world’s largest olive oil producer, accounting for over 60 percent of the world production.

    In Spain, which produces about half of the world’s olive crop, extreme weather conditions resulted in short production for a second year. After a spring heat wave impacted flowering, the harvest in Spain was forecast to be only 15 percent larger than last year, which was the worst olive oil production year in nearly a decade. A series of summer heat waves caused trees to drop unripe fruit to conserve moisture. However, abundant fall precipitation contributed to improve the initially negative production outlook. The latest official estimates indicate that olive oil production in Spain in MY 2023/24 may reach up to 765,200 MT.

    In Italy, MY 2023/24 olive oil production is forecasted at 300,000 MT, mainly due to the promising conditions in the regions of Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, which account for approximately 70 percent of the country’s olive oil production.

    Greece’s MY 2023/24 olive oil production could be as low as 180,000 MT. The mild winter did not favor flowering and extensive rainfall in spring further reduced fruit-set. Additionally, extremely hot summer conditions followed by autumn rainstorms ‘Daniel’ and ‘Elias’ reduced the yields in the central Greece area. Chalkidiki in the north and Crete in south Greece also report significant olive oil production decreases.

    Consumption

    MY 2023/24 and MY 2022/23 olive oil consumption has been revised down compared to previous estimates in response to soaring EU olive oil consumers’ prices in the main producing and consuming countries. Likewise, olive oil prices in producers’ markets in the EU also far exceed previous season’s levels.

    Trade

    The second consecutive short EU olive oil crop is expected to limit the bloc’s export potential in MY 2023/24. The EU’s total olive oil export levels in MY 2022/23 also declined significantly, driven by the limited domestic availability. The United States followed by Brazil are the main destinations for EU olive oil exports.  Read the full USDA-Foreign Ag Service Report HERE.

  • Master Milling Certificate Course September 23-25, 2019

    The Master Milling Certificate Course has helped hundreds of olive oil processors produce better oil more efficiently. A survey of attendees’ found that 90 percent of respondents believed that the course material would boost their quality or efficiency by more than five percent, and 72 percent said that the course was “very likely” to lead to higher profitability.

    The course will be led by Leandro Ravetti, among the world’s top experts in olive oil processing, growing, and standards. As executive director of Australia’s Boundary Bend Limited, Leandro has helped guide the company to rapid growth, optimum efficiency, and top awards at international olive oil competitions. The company’s success is guided by innovation, data, and analysis to maximize oil production efficiency and quality.

    The course will also include a field trip to three olive oil processors.

    This course is a small investment that will pay off in more efficiency, better quality, and higher profits.

    What’s included

    • Three days of expert instruction

    • Field-trip transportation.

    • Breakfast pastries, lunch, and beverages featuring local and seasonal ingredients from one of the region’s best caterers.

    • Booklet with presentation slides in note-taking format.

    • Flash drive with presentation slides and supplemental materials.

    Reviews

    “Overall I found the course to be absolutely wonderful. All of the presenters were knowledgeable, shared information freely and were good presenters. Leandro was especially fantastic. His knowledge on the subject matter is staggering and he is a pleasure to listen to.”

    “Great course! I really liked the detailed look from start to finish in the processing. I also liked the hands-on look at the processing and the first-hand view of different processors during the field trip. This trip was invaluable to me – I learned so much!”

    “This was a wonderful experience, our minds are full of new ideas, tips to apply, errors not to make!”

    “One value of the course is the peer-to-peer networking!”

    Registration

    The three-day course will be held on the UC Davis campus in the Silverado Vineyard Sensory Theater at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

    $875 until July 15, 2019

    $1,075 after July 15, 2019

    Cancellations: 100% credit for future course if cancelled prior to June 15, 2019; 50% credit if cancelled prior to July 15, 2019; no credit after July 15, 2019.

    IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE USA: Please enter CA in the State Field. 95616 in the Zip Code Field and 555-555-5555 in the Telephone Field. You can enter your state/province, country, postal code and phone number in the supplemental fields provided. Once you submit the registration information  you will be redirected to a secure credit card site where you will be able to enter your credit card information with the correct address.

    Instructors

    Leandro Ravetti graduated as an Agricultural Engineer in Argentina. He worked for the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in olive production research and advised many of the country’s largest olive developments from 1995 until he moved to Australia in 2001. Leandro has also studied and worked as an invited researcher at the Olive Growing Research Institute of Perugia, Italy and at different Governmental Olive Institutes in Andalusia, Spain where he completed a postgraduate degree on olive growing. In Australia, Leandro leads the Modern Olives technical team, which provides horticultural and olive specific technical advice to most of the largest olive groves and olive oil processing plants in the country. Leandro has also been involved as adviser, researcher and invited speaker in most other new olive industries such as New Zealand, Japan, Peru, South Africa, Chile and USA. Leandro has been Executive Director of Boundary Bend Limited, Australia’s leading fully integrated olive company since 2005. As part of his role with Boundary Bend, Leandro has overseen the production of multi award winning oils for the company’s flagship brand, Cobram Estate, including a large number of gold medals, best in class and best in show trophies in national and international competitions such as New York, Los Angeles, Olive Japan, Australian Olive Association, etc.

    Dan Flynn is executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center, which he has guided to international leadership in olive research and education. Dan also oversees the production of UC Davis Olive Oil and other olive products that help support the center. He served 16 years as a legislative and policy consultant in the California State Legislature and also managed a small farm prior to coming to UC Davis. He has a M.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University. Based on his achievements with the Olive Center, Dan has received top staff awards from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the chancellor of the university.

    Selina Wang, PhD, is an extension specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology and research director of the UC Davis Olive Center. Dr. Wang also is the leader of the UC Davis Olive Oil Laboratory, which provides research and analysis of olive oil and table olives. As research director, Dr. Wang has developed more than 60 research projects in table olives and olive oil. Dr. Wang is pursuing additional innovative research that seeks to deliver faster, better and cheaper methods for analyzing olive oil quality and authenticity.

    Hotel Reservation

    Hyatt Place UC Davis

    173 Old Davis Rd, Davis, CA 95616

    (530) 756-9500

    Booking link: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/california/hyatt-place-uc-davis/smfzu?corp_id=G-U271

     

    Hallmark Inn at UC Davis

    110 F Street, Davis, CA 95616

    Booking link: https://www.myhotelreservation.net/b/hasmfinn/HASMFINN/?i=WHPROMO5A&rac=*NP05$