Organic olive oil worth $166 million was imported by the United States last year, the first in which it was tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This means about one tenth of the value of all foreign olive oil sales in the U.S. in 2013 came from organic olive oil.
Organic olive oil together with organic coffee ($253 million), bananas ($259 million), and mangos ($101 million) accounted for 60 percent of the value of tracked organic imports in 2013, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
About half the value of the organic olive oil imported came from extra virgin olive oil, 47 percent the olive oil grade and 4 percent from virgin olive oil.
Last year, the United States imported 288,000 MT of olive oil valued at just over $1.1 billion, down in volume but up in value from the just over 321,000 MT valued at nearly 963 million imported in 2012, USDA figures show.
Earlier this year, the International Olive Council said it was tracking trade in organic olive oil thanks to new international customs codes making it feasible for the first time.
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