Near the murmuring in the grain fields, of the waves, of wind in the oat-stalks
the Olive Tree, with its silver-covered mass,
severe in its lines in its twisted Heart in the Earth:
The graceful Olives polished by the hands which made the dove
and the oceanic snail: Green, Innumerable, Immaculate.
Nipples of Nature, and there in the dry Olive groves
where alone the blue sky with cicadas and the hard earth exist
There the prodigy, the perfect capsules of the Olives
filling with their constellations the foliage, then later the bowls.
The Miracle, The Olive Oil.
With Intimate Powerful Smoothness You Sing:
You are the Spanish language, there are syllables of Olive Oil.
There are words useful and rich-smelling, like your fragrant material.
It’s not only Wine that sings, Olive Oil sings too
It lives in us with its ripe light
And among the good things of the Earth, I set you apart Olive oil,
your ever-flowing peace, your green essence, your heaped-up treasure
which descends in streams from the Olive Tree.
– Pablo Neruda
87% of the total Olive Oil that China consumes comes from Spain
China has already become the most important market for Spain Agri-food business outside EU, and Spanish olive oil exports continue to reach historical figures in the Asian giant, with a sustained unstoppable growth of a volume of exports that has increased over 31,7% in the last five years.
As stated in the last COI report, Spain is China’s first provider of Olive Oil, providing 55.580 tons in 2021, +17,1% more than the previous campaign.
Out of the 97% exports of olive oil from the EU to China, Spain leads providing 86,9%, followed by Italy with 9,3%, and the rest of the EU countries under 2%.
In terms of volume by product category, 66,5% are extra virgin olive oils, 24,6% are olive oils, and the remaining 8,9% corresponds to pomace oils, made of olives.
The IMF predicts that China’s GDP will exceed that of the US by 2030. With a current population of 1.411.780.000 people, China will import around 180.000 tons of olive oil in the next decade, what makes of China one of the most important markets in the world for the Olive Oil country producers and export companies, and the one with highest potential for further growth still ahead.
The Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, along with some of the top relevant players in the Spanish Agri-Food Industry such as ICEX, FIAB, FEPEX and EXTENDA, among others, are actively establishing new cooperation agreements for the promotion of Spain’s Agri-Food sector in China during 2022 and 2023, to further boost the high quality and wide variety of the Spanish agri-food products as strategic activity for the internationalization of the Spanish agri-food sector, with the aim to further strengthening the presence, exports and sales of the Spanish leading food and beverage export companies in the Chinese market, especially towards the upcoming Prowine China, FHC Food & Hospitality China and SIAL China 2022.
The massive base of Chinese population will bring the unlimited imagination to the consumption of olive oil.
In terms of market scale, the opportunity is immense.