Olive oil lies about its geographical origin. And very often so.
Tunisia is one of the biggest producers of olive oil in the world, but Tunisian olive oil does not end up on our stores shelves and is therefore relatively unknown to the general public. Not only that but Tunisian olive oil is of very high quality and the country loses, by selling it in bulk a big part of the extra value for it.
What is going on: The curious case of Italian olive oil.
It has long been the case that olive oil producers import olive oil. Reasons for this are multiple. Firstly there is the case that producers sometimes are hit by a bad harvest or simply get big orders that production can’t follow. However, a major pull for this is the fact that Italian olive oil is a much wanted product and that comes with a premium. More money can be made from Italian olive oil than from Tunisian.
In fact, Italian internal production can barely keep up with the internal consumption. Some numbers even indicate that the consumption internally is higher than the production and therefore by default import of olive oil is needed. However, even when looking at the most conservative numbers Italy needs to import A LOT of olive oil in order to reach the amount of olive oil that it exports every year.
This practice is in general ok, blending olive oil is not a crime and it is understandable. It happens in other industries as well. We are a globalised world and production can have hits and needs to be balanced. But the fact that Italian producers this don’t mention the full origin of their olive oil and thus Greek, Spanish and Tunisian olive oil magically become Italian. That can’t be accepted.
It’s the oldest trick in the book, the ol’ switcheroo.
The impact on the Tunisian olive oil industry
In a way thinking back on Tunisia, our first thoughts of anger are mostly emotional they come from pride and from a lack of recognition and more importantly as a Tunisian living abroad, from a lack of being able to buy Tunisian olive oil in my local stores. But at least Tunisian olive oil is being sold. There is an economic input. All ok I guess!
However, looking deeper into it. It also brings a sense of deep unfairness. Tunisia is not a rich country. It has struggled for years to get its economy up and running after the revolution in 2010 and seeing one of its biggest products being sold in bulk, for scraps is a sad state of affair.
When its olive oil is exported in bulk, Tunisia loses out on the added value that could be achieved through direct, branded bottle sales and we are not even mentioning the extra jobs that processing and bottling olive oil can bring. There is a big difference in profit margin between bulk and direct branded sales and this extra profit could provide a much-needed economic boost to the country.
Even if a small producer would like to export in bulk, they can’t. Since there are a limited amount of export quota and these are all in hands of a small number of rich families that have gotten them for years. Without anyone else having the possibility to apply for them. They are forced to sell the oil at an unnecessary middle man and most people in the country simple even sell their olives to a press who then sells to one of the very few accredited exporters.
The biggest money in Tunisian olive oil is not being made by Tunisian producers. It’s being made by a small number of exporting oligarchs and by Italians.
What is SŪR olive oil trying to do about this?
It’s our main goal to bring back the good name of Tunisian olive oil. It’s fantastic quality and interesting local varieties need to be celebrated. Secondly we want to push the Tunisian olive oil industry forward and therefore we are producing and bottling all in country and working with as many local partners as possible. Thirdly we are paying our local partners a fair price for their work, olives or olive oil and will never compromise on this.