Crete’s olive growers are staring at two very different horizons: on one side, the market price for olive oil is finally inching upward, on the other, the island’s warehouses are echoing hollow. The latest sale from the Agricultural Cooperative of Vryses, Lassithi, closed at €4.60 per kilo for extra virgin olive oil with 0.22 acidity. Ninety-six tons were shipped off to Italy — and with them, the last drops of the co-op’s 2024 reserves.
Elsewhere, the contrast is striking. In Selino, a tanker of industrial oil (28 tons, 5.0 acidity) changed hands at just €2.60/kg. Across the sea, the Peloponnesian cooperative of Papadianika managed to fetch €4.85/kg for their extra virgin olive oil. Spain, meanwhile, nudged prices slightly upward in late August: €4.10/kg for extra virgin, €3.49 for virgin, and €3.38 for lampante. Encouraging, yes — but hardly a reason for Cretan producers to breathe easy.
The Empty Warehouses and Heavy Skies
The mood on the island remains grim. “We are talking about zero reserves,” said Myron Hiletzakis, president of the Union of Small Cooperatives of the National Agricultural Cooperative Association (ΕΘΕΑΣ). “We should have at least 500,000 tons in storage. Instead, producers are left waiting for October rains to save their trees.”
The problem, he added, is not just drought. European rules pile on restrictions while Italy and Spain continue to market oil at double the Cretan price. “How can a producer here export at €4.60/kg, when in Italy the same product is sold for €8 or €9? And how can Europe allow imports from Turkey and Libya while its own farmers are struggling?”
Between Shelves and Fields
Consumers may be seeing some relief. Bottles are finally appearing on supermarket shelves at prices that are less terrifying than they have been for the last two years, when oil became a luxury item. Forecasts suggest retail prices will start around €5 per liter — lower than feared, but still higher than what many households can swallow.
For producers, the arithmetic does not add up. Even with extra virgin olive oil prices rising past €4.60, the income is not enough to offset drought-stricken harvests. “To make a real difference, we need €6/kg and above,” Hiletzakis stressed. His warning: unless Italy, Spain, and Greece form a common front, the European olive oil sector will keep playing defense while outside competitors flood the market.
In short: Prices are climbing, but the cupboards are bare. Crete’s olive oil dream for 2025 now depends on clouds forming over the island in October.