The president of DCoop, Spain’s largest agricultural cooperative, has joined four leading agricultural organizations in calling for a market stabilization mechanism to support falling olive oil prices as the world’s largest producer prepares for a bumper harvest.
In early October, the Association of Young Farmers (Asaja), the Coordinator of Farmers’ and Ranchers’ Organizations (COAG), the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA) and Spanish Agri-Food Cooperatives urged the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) to withdraw surplus olive oil from the market to bring supply more closely in line with demand.
According to the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), Spain’s independent competition authority, “the measure will be activated when initial stocks plus production reach at least 120 percent of the average of the two highest marketing levels of the last six seasons. The withdrawal may not exceed 20 percent of the estimated production.”
We have reached a point where many olive growers simply cannot make a living at current olive oil prices.
In its assessment, the CNMC warned that the measure “poses risks to competition and consumers,” arguing that any decision to activate it should be based “on a comprehensive market analysis.”
However, DCoop president Antonio Luque told Agropopular that he believes activating the mechanism “harms no one while benefiting everyone.”
“The idea is to take a portion of the olive oil that we expect could be surplus this season off the market on a mandatory basis, with the cost financed by producers themselves,” he said.
“Unfortunately, olive oil prices are already low, and they keep falling,” Luque added. “They continue to decline because the Ministry of Agriculture has not implemented this measure. We could use it to halt that downward trend. I believe it could alleviate the hardship that olive growers are facing because of these prices.”
According to data from Infaoliva, extra virgin olive oil prices at origin have fallen by 35 percent over the past 12 months, from €4.90 to €3.19 per kilogram. Prices for virgin and lampante olive oil have declined more moderately, each falling by 17 percent.
With rising input costs, including diesel and labor, Asaja, COAG, UPA and Spanish Agri-Food Cooperatives warned that current prices at origin have fallen below the cost of production for many growers.
“We have reached a point where many olive growers simply cannot make a living at current olive oil prices,” Luque said.
Spanish authorities forecast that olive oil production could reach 1.6 million metric tons in the 2026/27 crop year, a 23 percent increase from the previous season. MAPA data also show that Spain entered the new crop year with 175,745 metric tons of olive oil stocks.
Producers and agricultural organizations fear that domestic consumption and exports, which together reached 1.33 million tons in the 2025/26 crop year, will not grow sufficiently to absorb the additional supply, putting further downward pressure on prices.
Luque argued that temporarily withholding surplus oil could also help stabilize prices in the event of a poor harvest the following year.
“At the same time, it could help prevent shortages,” he said. “In other words, if we carry some olive oil stocks over into next year and we do not get enough rain or have a good harvest, we could avoid a sharp price increase. Instead, we could maintain a more reasonable price for consumers while securing a more acceptable price for producers.”
However, the bottlers’ association Anierac and exporters’ association Asoliva oppose withdrawing olive oil from the market, arguing that the proposed stabilization measure “is not sufficiently justified.”
Instead, the two organizations urged the ministry to assess how the harvest develops before deciding whether to intervene. They also called for a longer-term strategy to increase domestic consumption and international demand for Spanish olive oil.
The CNMC expressed similar concerns, warning that limiting the amount of olive oil available could undermine competition and harm consumers.
“Restrictive measures like this could have very negative effects on competition and consumers,” the watchdog said. “They would limit the amount of product available on the market. They would affect prices, quality, and the variety of supply. They would disrupt the competitive functioning of the value chain.”