Title: The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
Headings: The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
Content: “Although consumers are embarrassed to admit it, they are supporting the situation,” he says. “ The chain stores keep buying because it sells and everybody has become addicted to the low prices." That has serious effects on the market of authentic virgin and extra virgin olive oil that naturally are more expensive. “ There's no incentive for grocery stores to get the good stuff," he added. The situation has been exacerbated by Xylella Fastidiosa, a bacteria that kills olive trees - one million so far in Puglia, the largest olive oil producer - and threatens to extend to the rest of Italy and other Mediterranean producers. The bacteria, compounded by bad weather, has devastated Europe’s olive harvest and raised the price for authentic olive oil by as much as 20% across the continent. The Financial Times reports that in 2014-15, global olive oil production fell 26% to 2.4 million tons, after output in Spain and Italy had already been virtually halved, according to the International Olive Council. As a consequence, an unexpected country has reaped benefits: Tunisia. “The poor European harvests coincided with a bumper crop in Tunisia, catapulting the North African country to the top olive oil exporter spot and second-largest producer after Spain,” says the FT.