Athens Conference Aims to Increase Global Market Share for Greek Oils
The olive oil scientific society FILAIOS will be hosting a conference at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at 5:00 PM tomorrow (November 16th, 2017).
Nov. 15, 2017
By Nick TsakanikasThe olive oil scientific society FILAIOS will be hosting a conference with subject “Financial Tools, Investment Possibilities and Promotional Opportunities in the Olive Sector” at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at 5:00 PM tomorrow (November 16th, 2017).
We are a country with a surplus in olive oil production. We produce 50 percent more than our internal needs every year, therefore it must find a way out to other countries.
Along with another meeting on olive oil in the foodservice industry, the events are being conducted as part of the “Olive Oil Day” celebrations.
The topics to be presented at the conference are:
- Financial tools for development initiatives, by executives from the Banking sector
- Investment Opportunities to Improve Infrastructure, by Panagiotis Karantonis, deputy director of SEVITEL and board member of FILAIOS
- Promotional Opportunities and Extroversion, by George Oikonomou, director of SEVITEL and board member of FILAIOS
- Exhibitions, a Marketing Tool for Olive Products, by Nikos Choudalakis, CEO of FORUM AE
Panagiotis Karantonis, the deputy director of SEVITEL made the following statement on the need to improve the positioning of Greek olive oils in the global market:
“We are a country with a surplus in olive oil production. We produce 50 percent more than our internal needs every year, therefore it must find a way out to other countries.
Until now, this way was found by in-bulk exports to Italy, but this is an unstable balance of the market, firstly, because this way Italians control the Greek market and the prices of the producers and second, new markets are gradually developed from which they can supply bulk olive oil.
For example, Spain and Tunisia are two competitive countries for Greece, at least in volumes, with large production abilities, especially Spain which is the largest olive oil producer globally with 2 million tons per year and Tunisia with significant investments in the olives and olive oil sector. Both of them have an advantage against Greece in production costs.
To face this disadvantage, we must improve and promote our quality, in order to obtain a larger market share in the global market for the standardized product.
Considering the countries that do not produce but only consume olive oil, like the northern European countries, Canada, Japan, Russia and countries that produce less than they consume, therefore they import olive oil like the USA, these markets are estimated to be consuming more than 700,000 tons of standardized olive oil annually.
In this market, we are claiming a share that, if it reaches 10 to 15 percent, we will add up to 100,000 tons of standardized olive oil per year. Then, the dependence from the Italian market and conditions in the global olive oil production will enable us to invest in a safer future.
If we don’t improve our global market share, we will have to face huge surplus during periods of large productions in Spain and Tunisia that will nail our prices, like we saw over the last years when the price for extra virgin olive oil dropped below €2, because of Spain’s large production that reached 1.8 million tons. For Greece, quality is the safety net we can provide for the future of the product.”
More details about the schedule of the conference can be found here.
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