The Mechanized Future Of Olive Oil Production In Sicily
Read original story on Forbes.com
During harvest season in Sicily, you’ll see fields of olive trees draped in green mesh nets to catch heaps of bright green olives. Picking is accomplished with the help of rakes and handheld machines that wrap around branches and gently shake the olives off. Hand-picking is how the harvest has been done for generations and how it will continue to be done for existing Sicilian groves given their location on hilly terrain and the types of olive trees.
Bono, the largest producer of extra virgin olive oil in Sicily, is looking to take the high density production techniques widely used in Spain and bring this model to Sicily. The family-run company has invested more than $1 million to buy around 1,000 acres of barren land in Trapani and elsewhere in Sicily to grow and cultivate olives using the most modern olive farming techniques.
One of the reasons behind this investment is to ensure a steady supply of olives for their growing business. “Due to several factors including bacterial disease, water shortages and traditional methods of cultivation, shortages of Italian extra virgin olive oil are well-documented,” Salvatore Bono, co-owner of Bono, told me. An article in the Olive Oil Times noted that Italian olive oil production has hit a historic low, citing production figures from the Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market which estimate that 175,000 tons were produced in the 2018/2019 harvest season; the lowest output Italy has seen since 1990. This figure represented a 59.2% decrease from the previous year.
The first 100 acres of Bono’s new groves were planted in 2018 and more were planted last year. They chose to plant Arbequina, a Spanish variety, as it grows into a small tree that can be efficiently harvested with a specialized tractor. The trees of the Italian olive varieties cultivated by the 2,000 small farms that Bono typically sources olives from, by contrast, grow twice as large (or more) and twice as broad.
To make their extra virgin olive oil, Bono purchases 38%-46% of all the olives grown in Sicily (plus more for their table olive production). Depending on the yearly harvest, Bono produces 60-65% of the olive oil from Sicily and they are responsible for 6% of the overall olive oil production in Italy. Spain continues to be the world’s largest producer of olive oil, typically producing more than the next three largest producing nations (Italy, Greece and Tunisia) combined, according to Joseph Profaci, executive director of the North American Olive Oil Association.
“Hand picking and processing the olives has been a Sicilian tradition for generations,” Bono told me. “However consumer demand around the globe has changed in the past decade, asking for more high-quality extra virgin olive oil on the shelves, and we must be able to offer a Sicilian-grown product at the quantity the public is demanding. Our terroir produces some of the most coveted extra virgin olive oil in the world, but if we continue to hand pick, we will not be able to keep up with the demand.” An overview of Italy’s olive and olive oil sector by the International Olive Council (IOC) shows that, historically, the country’s consumption of olive oil is higher than its production.
Profaci noted that investments in super high density production are increasing around the world as these methods increase yield and profitability. As global olive oil production lags behind consumption (with provisional data from the IOC indicating a 2018/2019 global harvest of 3,217.5 million metric tons and 2,909 million metric tons consumed worldwide in 2018/2019), consumer education on authenticity, flavors, sustainability, biodiversity, versatility and the health benefits of olive oil is more important than ever to drive sales and prevent prices from collapsing and keep traditional producers in business.
