Spain first world power in olive oil | Agronews Castile and León

Spain is the world's leading power in the olive oil and table olive sector, as can be seen in a recent report prepared by Juan Vilar, strategic consultants. The efforts made in recent years by the sector (olive growers, oil millers, the State and other public and private institutions) have made it possible for Spain not only to produce the greatest amount of oil, but also for its quality to be unsurpassed. The Spanish production represents about 60% of the EU production and 45% of the world production.

It is the main producer of olive oil. The contrast that exists between a diminishing surface and a growing production shows that the Spanish olive grove has been subjected to a renewal process that is giving rise to an increase in its productivity.

It has 2,751,255 hectares of cultivation area and produces 7,167,830 tons of table olives. Among its crops, the most predominant is the traditional crop (67.3%), followed by intensive plantations (23.2%) and super-intensive (9.5%). In addition, 29.8% of the plantations belong to irrigated land, and 70.2% to dry land.

The Spanish olive grove is present in 34 provinces of the 13 autonomous communities. The distribution of the crop between the different autonomous communities has significant differences. It is found mainly in Andalusia, producing around 75% of the national production and contributing a quarter of the world production.

The main production area is located on the diagonal that joins the Northwest of Jaén with the Southeast of Seville, which includes the Subbética Cordoba, the north of Málaga and the west of Granada. In these areas, there is a great variety of olive trees that cover the Andalusian land in its entirety and give rise to exceptional oils of extraordinary quality. The most important olive varieties in Spain are Picual, Picudo, Empeltre, Hojiblanca, Cornicabra, Lechín, Manzanilla, Verdial and Arbequina.

Approximately 92% of the olives produced are ground to extract the oil and only 8% are used for dressing table olives. It produces 1,392,470 tons of olive oil and 537,030 tons of table olives per year. It is the world's leading exporter of olive oil, selling abroad 358,930 tons of olive oil and 174,730 tons of table olives. 70% of olive oil production corresponds to high quality oil (virgin or extra virgin) and 30% to lower quality (lampante). The percentage of olive oil obtained from each kilo of olives is 21%.

It has 975,954 olive grove plots, of which the average size corresponds to 2.82 hectares. In Andalusia, the provinces of Seville and Córdoba are the ones with the largest average farms, however, it is in Almería, where the average farm is smallest. Productivity per hectare is 0.547 tons of olive oil and 2,605 tons of table olives.

The volume of business generated by the olive sector is around five million euros, as well as the annual conferences in the olive sector and related industries correspond to more than fifty million.

Spain is the country with the largest number of oil mills, orujeras, refiners and entamadoras, standing respectively at 1,830, 52, 25 and 413.

In addition to being the world's leading producer, Spain is the world's leading consumer of olive oil. A total of 550,000 tons of olive oil is consumed, which corresponds to 20.4%. The annual per capita consumption is 11.76 litres.

Regarding the profile of the consumer in Spain, the male sex represents 50.5% and the female sex 49.5% of consumption. They consume a greater amount, those over 65 years old (40%), followed by people aged between 50 and 65 years (35%). The age range where consumption is lowest is in those under 34 years of age (10%). Depending on the family structure, middle-aged families with children consume the highest proportion of olive oil (27%), followed by young families with children (16%), as well as middle-aged families without children. (16%), where consumption is lower in family structures in young families without children (9%).

According to income level, families with a medium income level are those in which the consumption of olive oil is higher with respect to low or high income levels, standing at 56%. Those Spaniards who have higher educational levels, such as university education, consume a higher percentage of olive oil compared to those who have lower levels than these, standing at 32%. According to the academic training where the olive consumption is lower in those people who do not have studies.

Depending on the different existing categories of oil, Spaniards prefer to consume olive oil (55%), followed by extra virgin olive oil (39%). The least consumed olive oil is olive pomace oil (1%).

The preferences of Spaniards regarding the acquisition of olive oil according to the type of container, the one consumed in a quite significant proportion is the PET container, standing at 94%.

In the Spanish population, the consumption of oils is widespread in different areas of cooking. The greatest use of olive oil among the population is raw, to season salads, for example, reaching 40%. Olive oil is practically the only vegetable oil that can be consumed raw.

Where greater is the acquisition of olive oil according to the establishment is in supermarkets (44%), followed by hypermarkets (25%). The purchase of olive oil through the internet amounts to 6%. Less than 2% of sales of bottled olive oil in Spain are made directly by cooperatives. The rest, almost everything that is produced, is sold in bulk to other companies that store it, package it and place it on the market through traditional distribution (hypermarkets, supermarkets...). Mercadona alone sells more than 200 million liters of olive oil, mostly packaged by the Portuguese company “Sovena”, which in turn buys the product in bulk from various cooperatives and oil mills. This is more than 13 million 5-liter bottles sold under its private label Hacendado, about 8,500 in each of its 1,500 supermarkets, which gives an average of 30 bottles a day in each of them. In other words, almost half of the olive oil consumed in Spain is sold by Mercadona. The other half is sold in the rest of the commercial areas under private labels and brands of large distribution companies such as Dcoop, Deoleo, Acesur...

The consumption of olive oil is more predominant within the home (65%), although consumption outside the home (35%) is especially relevant, within the home it could translate into about 360,000 tons and outside the home in about 190,000 tons. In the latter, the most predominant establishments are bars and restaurants (30%), followed by the canning industry (23%) and hotels (20%).

Olive oil is one of the most prestigious edible oils in Spain. It is one of the engines of our economy, it gives a lot of life to our towns, and in addition, one out of every two bottles of oil consumed in the world is Spanish olive oil.

Almost 70% of the oils that Spain markets are exported to more than 175 countries, especially the EU, being the largest exporter in the world.