Italian olive oil producers are forced to cut prices due to increased imports from Tunisia

In 2025, the Italian olive oil market faced serious dumping. According to the farming group Coldiretti, imports of Tunisia’s olive oil increased by 40%, leading to a collapse in purchasing prices in the country where this premium product originated, forcing local farmers to sell their harvest below cost, the Financial Times reports.

As the publication notes, Tunisian olive oil is entering Italy at around €3.50 per kg, a price local farmers cannot compete with. Given the harvest shortfall the previous season, when production barely reached 300,000 tons compared to demand in Italy alone of around 600,000 tons, local farmers are forced to compete with the increasingly cheap Tunisian product.

Meanwhile, the country intends to double its duty-free olive oil exports to the EU to 100,000 tons per year, fueling protests from European farmers. Moreover, rising prices for natural products have triggered a wave of counterfeiting: cases of vegetable oils dyed with chlorophyll being sold as olive oil have become more common on the market.

The publication, citing experts, notes the imperfections of EU regulations. Currently, olive oil from other countries can be legally bottled in Italy and labeled as “Italian product.” Experts are calling for stricter traceability regulations to protect consumers from substituting expensive local oil for cheaper Tunisian alternatives.

According to a new forecast from the International Olive Council (IOC), Tunisia will take second place in the world olive oil production rankings in the 2025/26 season, surpassing traditional leaders such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy.

Tags: olive oil, Italy, Tunisia, prices