Climate change and drought are driving up olive oil prices. It is the criminals all over the Mediterranean who see their means to exploit.
Olive farmer Konstantinos Markou shows off the stump of an olive tree that thieves have cut down in Spata, east of Athens. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTBPublished: Published:
Less than 20 minutes ago
Olive farmer Konstantinos Markou shows off the stump from a nearly 150-year-old tree. It was one of 15 cut down on the neighbour’s plot by thieves keen to make a quick buck.
It is not just the two farmers outside Athens who have experienced this. The prices of olives and olive oil have increased sharply, driven forward by a two-year drought in Spain. In the olive countries of Greece, Italy and Spain, warehouse break-ins, quality oil being watered down with inferior product, and falsification of shipment data are increasingly being seen.
Markou now goes on nightly patrols around his farm to prevent the thieves from attacking him. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
And worst of all: Gangs who use chainsaws to cut down the most olive-rich branches, sometimes even whole trees.
– The olive robbers can sometimes make more oil than the rightful owners, quite seriously, says Markou.
A machine sprays water on olives at an olive mill outside Athens. These olives have been harvested legally. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
Goes nightly watch rounds
He has now started making nightly rounds on his own farm to stop the thieves. The break-ins mean fewer olives to harvest for farmers who are already struggling with increased production costs and climate change. The latter leads to warmer winters, more frequent floods, and more intense forest fires.
In Puglia, south-east Italy, farmers are now urging the police to form a separate unit for agricultural crime.
Greek farmers want back a similar police unit that was abolished in 2010. And in Spain, a company has developed tracking devices that look like olives, so that farmers can find thieves.
Most often, the thieves steal branches. When they cut down the whole tree, it is split up and loaded onto cars. The timber itself is sold to timber traders or firewood sellers, while the olive fruits are taken to olive oil mills.
– The thieves look for the most olive-filled branches and cut them off. Not only is it theft, but it goes beyond the trees. It takes four to five years for a tree to return to normal, says Neilos Papachristou, who runs a mill outside Athens.
The olive fields outside Athens have many centuries of history behind them. Today, the main airport is close by. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
Harvest early
The olive fields outside Athens have traditions that go back to antiquity. Some of the trees are several centuries old.
Now the problem of theft has become so great that some farmers are harvesting olives earlier than usual. Thus, they accept less profit in exchange for less damage to the trees.
Among them is Christos Bekas. He unloads his olive harvest at Papachristou’s farm. Bekas owns 5,000 olive trees and was the victim of repeated raids by thieves until he chose to harvest early. Thus, he needs 2.5 times more olives to produce a kilo of olive oil than he did the year before.
– And that’s after we’ve gone on patrols night after night. The situation is terrible, says Bekas.
A worker harvests olives. Many farmers have started harvesting earlier to avoid theft. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
Price increase
The world market for olive oil grew for decades, but the drought in Spain has put a stop to most of it. The country accounts for 40 per cent of production worldwide, and 2.5 million tonnes are expected to be produced in this year’s harvest, compared to 3.4 million the previous year.
Reference prices for extra virgin olive oil ended at 9 euros – 107 kroner – per kilo in September in Greece, Italy and Spain. That is more than triple the level in 2019.
Consumers notice it too. One liter of extra virgin oil increased in price by as much as 70 percent from last year to this year in Greece.
Neilos Papachristou runs an olive oil mill east of Athens. He says the thefts also go beyond the trees. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
Brazen thieves
The police are not lost behind a cart: Spanish police seized 91 tonnes of stolen olives in October. In February, six people were arrested in the south of Greece for repeated break-ins in warehouse buildings, which resulted in eight tonnes of stolen olive oil.
At the same time, farmers in Puglia report that the thieves are becoming increasingly brazen. Now they steal tractors and other equipment in addition to olives.
A tank is filled with olive oil. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP / NTB
The agricultural organization in the area appealed for assistance after 100 trees were destroyed or seriously damaged at one time last month.
– This is a serious crime. They are killing their own history here, says olive farmer Markou.
Published:
Published: 13 November 2023 07:07
2023-11-13 06:07:41
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