2023-11-01 01:29:44
The Protected Designation of Origin Siurana anticipates that the price of oil may rise even more due to the low production of olives expected for this campaign. The drought means that this year’s harvest is slightly lower than last year’s, which was already very precarious. The president of DOP Siurana, Antoni Galceran, has assured that farmers are not getting rich because sales end up being lower and production costs have increased. “We would like higher production and more moderate prices,” he said. From the PDO they will generate around three million liters of olive oil, well below the average of five million.
The areas most affected by the drought are those that do not have irrigation and this has made the harvest “very irregular”. “The area of the Baix Camp and the Alt Camp, what has been able to irrigate has a good harvest”, said Galceran, a situation that is reproduced in the Conca de Barberà, Priorat and part of the Ribera d’Ebre. On the other hand, “the Baix Penedès is very bad because everything is dryland”, while in areas close to the Riudecanyes swamp they have not been able to irrigate due to the lack of water in the reservoir and this has meant that they also have a meager production . “The olive tree is resistant. It doesn’t die, but it doesn’t produce; and with a supporting irrigation it is very grateful”, he exemplified. However, the quality will be good.
Prices on the rise
The president of the DOP Siurana has regretted that with the increase in the cost of energy and the low olive harvest, production costs have risen. This will make the price paid by the consumer slightly higher than this year. “The price context is very marked by world production, and especially by Spanish production, and specifically by Andalusia; and they also have two years in a row of very bad harvests”, he remarked.
In this sense, he acknowledged that “the final part of the campaign” was “chaotic”, which led to the fact that some agents and consumers hoarded oil. As he commented, during the year the price has been increased on four or five occasionsan extraordinary event that should not be repeated.
Galceran has predicted that this will cause them to have fewer sales this year, because they will first have to spend what they already have in store. However, he assured that “producers, DOs and cooperatives” are not speculating. “We have moderate prices due to our high quality; they are not higher than the white brand of the supermarkets”, he said. In fact, he added that even though the prices are high, it is not profitable for them because they have little oil to sell. All of this means that at this start of the campaign, a five-liter carafe of DOP Siurana oil is around five euros.
Finally, he explained that the difficulties in producing oil have caused some cooperatives or entities to have made collaboration agreements or merged. “Some do not open the mill because the costs are very high, and to optimize resources they go to the mill next door. There they make the oil and can market it under their brand”, he indicated. This particularity, however, occurs “in short harvests”. This has meant that the number of entities in the Siurana PDO has decreased, but for Galceran “it is not a crisis” and he trusts that if it rains during 2024, the situation will normalize.
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