L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano T here is nothing as certain about an Italian kitchen as t h e p r e s e n c e o f olive oil. We are so used to having it handy and always in the pantry that we barely stop considering how fragile a product it is. Yet in Puglia, the 2024-2025 harvest has exposed just how vulnerable this certainty can be, as what should have been another abundant year has instead turned into one of scarcity, characterized by drought, disease, and even crime. The year has been so nega- tive, in fact, that farmers are calling it one of the toughest in decades. Puglia's central role in the olive world makes the impact immediate and far-reaching as the region usually provides between 40 and 50 percent of Italy's total olive oil produc- tion – some years even more – and when the yield falters here, the national market and export prices shift almost instantly. This year, Coldiretti and U n a p r o l e s t i m a t e t h a t Puglia's production has fallen by about 40 percent com- pared to 2023, with some p r o v i n c e s s u c h a s F o g g i a recording losses closer to 50 percent. The causes are sever- al, each overlapping with and compounding the other: long months without rain have left reservoirs at 70 percent below normal levels; extreme heat in late spring interfered with flowering, reducing the num- ber of fruit-bearing shoots, a n d e v e n w h e r e o l i v e s formed, smaller sizes and pre- mature dropping cut the total harvest. To make matters worse, the region is still living with the long shadow of Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium t h a t b e g a n d e v a s t a t i n g Puglia's groves more than a decade ago. Since 2013, it has killed roughly a third of the region's 60 million olive trees. In parts of Salento, three out of four trees are gone, leaving wide tracts of land dotted w i t h b l e a c h e d t r u n k s . Replanting has been slow and expensive, and many farmers had to start over with resis- tant cultivars that will take years to mature. The result is that even when weather con- ditions are favorable, Puglia produces with a smaller and more fragile base of trees. For those that survived this sea- son, quality remains high – producers insist the oil is excellent, in fact – but scarci- ty has become the new nor- mal. The shortage in Puglia col- lided with global dynamics that make olive oil a pre- cious commodity, as even Spain, the world's largest p r o d u c e r , s u f f e r e d f r o m drought and high tempera- tures, pushing global supplies to their lowest in years. Italy's overall production fell by an estimated 20 to 25 percent, t o a r o u n d 2 7 0 , 0 0 0 t o n s , d o w n f r o m m o r e t h a n 350,000 in 2023, which led to rising costs and higher prices to the public, with pre- m i u m e x t r a v i r g i n o i l i n southern Italy now hovering around twelve to fifteen US dollars per liter, nearly dou- ble what it cost three years ago. On store shelves else- where, consumers are now paying roughly $15–16 a liter, and premium 500-milliliter bottles of Apulian extra virgin can cost around $10-11 each, or over $21 a liter. Analysts speak openly of "green gold," and the comparison is no longer figurative. With high prices comes another problem: theft. In A p r i l 2 0 2 5 , T h e T i m e s reported the hijacking of a tanker truck carrying Apulian e x t r a v i r g i n o i l v a l u e d a t more than $320,000. The robbery, executed with mili- tary precision, was traced to organized gangs that have traditionally targeted high- value goods such as jewelry and tobacco. The problem is truly widespread: Coldiretti Puglia also reported repeated night-time raids in groves, with thieves harvesting olives directly from the trees to sell on the black market, and in t h e B a r i p r o v i n c e a l o n e , police have seized hundreds o f t h o u s a n d s o f l i t e r s o f u n r e g i s t e r e d o r f a l s e l y labelled oil in the past year. Considering all this, it isn't surprising to find out that the European Union's food-fraud network recorded one of the highest numbers of olive-oil- related cases in recent mem- ory during the first half of 2024. Authorities and producer groups are responding with stricter controls and a push for transparency, with a new national decree requiring that every purchase of olives be logged in real time to pre- vent undeclared transfers between mills; Unaprol and Italia Olivicola are also calling for tighter limits on the acidity parameters that define extra virgin oil, argu- ing that clearer standards can protect quality and reputa- tion. And reputation, in fact, is yet another factor at risk here, because while industry leaders insist that the vast majority of Italian producers are honest, fraud can erode c o n s u m e r s ' t r u s t ; i n a n attempt to provide clarity, many farmers in Puglia now use traceability systems that allow consumers to scan a QR code and see the exact origin of the olives and the date of pressing, so that the bottle on the shelf can be connected back to the grove. Whether this is sufficient to restore confidence in a prod- uct that has been too easy to counterfeit and steal, remains to be seen. For consumers, the turbu- l e n c e o f t h i s s e a s o n i s a r e m i n d e r t h a t o l i v e o i l , d e s p i t e i t s f a m i l i a r i t y , demands attention and dis- cernment, so choosing well has never mattered more. Experts advise starting with the label: real extra vir- g i n o i l s h o u l d s p e c i f y i t s country of origin and, ideally, its harvest year. When buying Italian, buyers should look for PDO or PGI designations such as Terra di Bari, which guarantee local provenance and certification. In markets like the United States, inde- pendent quality seals guaran- tee further quality controls: the NAOOA Certified Quality Seal, issued by the North American Olive Oil Associa- tion, covers member brands whose oils are randomly pur- chased from stores and tested at least twice a year for purity and freshness according to International Olive Council standards. If you want to buy local, the COOC seal, granted by the California Olive Oil Council, certifies oils made e n t i r e l y f r o m C a l i f o r n i a - grown olives that pass chemi- cal and sensory tests even stricter than international norms. These certifications are voluntary and apply only to participating producers, but they represent meaning- f u l e f f o r t s t o m a i n t a i n integrity in a very complex market. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Olive oil: Puglia's green gold crisis A magnificent olive tree in Puglia: the region's olive oil economy is still struggling after the xylella infestation of a few years ago (Photo/Dreamstime). Bottom left, the first pressing: extra virgin olive oil at its purest (Photo: Anna Fedorova/Dreamstime) NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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