Spanish Olive Oil Sales Increase in China

New data shows Spanish olive oil sales increased significantly in China during the 2021/22 crop year.

In the 2021/22 crop, Spanish olive oil sales significantly increased in China.

Spanish exporters finished the year with 45,840 tons of olive oil sold in China, an increase of more than 10 percent. In addition to the increase in sale volumes, value also rose by 48 percent, reaching €177 million.

The Interprofessional Association of Spanish Olive Oil reached these conclusions after analyzing data from Chinese customs for the first nine months of 2022.

Pedro Barato, president of the Interprofessional Association of Spanish Olive Oil, praised the data from China.

“In the previous campaign, we exported almost 46,000 tons of olive oil to China, 10.25 percent more than in the past campaign,” he said. “So that we can have a precise idea of what that figure means, our closest competitor exported 2,830 tons, which is 16 times less.”

According to the International Olive Council, China consumed 57,500 tons of olive oil in the 2021/22 crop year. However, the country only produced 8,000 tons, meaning most Chinese demand is met by exports.

China is the world’s fifth-largest olive oil importer, just above Japan and the United Kingdom, and the largest consumer of Spanish olive oil outside of Europe and the United States.

Barato attributed Spain’s dominant position in the olive oil sector of the world’s second-largest economy to exporters’ efforts to promote Spanish olive oil in China since 2019.

The end of the first phase of the promotional campaign, which launched four months ago, coincided with the Chinese New Year.

“The slogan of the new campaign in China is very simple: ‘Olive oils from Spain. The new trend,’” Barato said. “We hope this new campaign will produce good outcomes. We’re convinced that China will be a country of the future and of the trend for Spanish olive oils.”