Italian olive oil producers may be better prepared this year to compete with leading producer countries such as Spain this year, helped by higher volumes and good quality. According to forecasts by the International Olive Council, production in Italy is expected to increase 76% to 320,000 tons in the current season compared with the weaker 2016/17 harvest year.

Spain will instead see a 15% decrease to around 1.09 million tons, which still confirms it a leading force. Greece will follow with 300,000 tons (up 54%), and Portugal with 78,800 tons (up 14%), according to the IOC.