Europe
While still early in the season, the olive harvest has begun in Greece with a kilogram of fresh extra virgin olive oil faring well above €3.00 ($3.55), confirming the recent projections for better prices in the beginning of the season.
In the Argolida region of the Peloponnese, an Italian trader paid €3.80 ($4.49) per kilo for 30 tons of extra virgin olive oil with acidity below 0.3 percent and polyphenol content exceeding 500mg per kilogram.
Another similar transaction was imminent, Konstantinos Mellos, the head of the local olive oil association Thermasia Dimitra, told Ypaithros Ηora newspaper, attributing the substantial price to the high polyphenols of the batch.
See Also:The Best Greek Olive OilsThe same price tag of €3.80 ($4.49) per kilo was fetched for the first production of extra virgin olive oil by the Apostles Agricultural Association in Laconia, in the first transaction of the season at this price level.
Last year’s extra virgin olive oil of Laconia, on the other hand, that has retained its organoleptic characteristics and low acidity level, currently sells for €2.75 ($3.25) to €2.80 ($3.31) per kilogram.
In Messinia, the first small quantities of EVOO produced were marketed for €2.90 ($3.43) to €3.00 ($3.55) per kilo, with the season’s price level expected to be shaped in the coming weeks.
“There is no certain offer yet to be able to determine the season’s prices,” Giorgos Kokkinos, the head of the Nileas group of Messinian producers, said.
In Crete, where the harvest has been delayed by recent heavy rains, the first olive oils made in the Messara area near Heraklion fared between €3.30 ($3.90) and €3.50 ($4.14) per kilogram.
See Also:2020 Olive Harvest UpdatesThe 2020 olive harvest in Greece, meanwhile, has been hampered by the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Foreign workers are scarce in many olive oil making territories of the country. Those who are available are required to demonstrate a negative Covid-19 test result before working in the fields, with growers charged with the responsibility for their testing.
Some growers who had initiated the process to hire workers from abroad and had paid the required administrative fee of €100 ($129) per laborer, were disappointed to see some laborers not arriving due to Covid-related travel restrictions.
Consequently, part of their crop remained unharvested with the producers unsure whether the state would reimburse the fee amount.
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