Italy Warns of Rising Fraud and Violence Amid High Olive Oil Prices

Summary

Italian police task force seized over 14,000 liters of untraced extra vir­gin olive oil in two oper­a­tions in south­ern Italy, lack­ing legal doc­u­men­ta­tion and poten­tially mis­lead­ing con­sumers. Authorities warn that such ille­gal activ­ity threat­ens the integrity of the domes­tic olive oil sec­tor, lead­ing to ris­ing insur­ance costs and increased crim­i­nal activ­ity.

A task force of the Italian police seized more than 14,000 liters of untraced and there­fore ille­gal extra vir­gin olive oil in two oper­a­tions between the port of Bari and the Lecce area in Puglia, south­ern Italy.

If this preda­tory sit­u­a­tion con­tin­ues, the real dan­ger is that some oper­a­tors may reduce or sus­pend ship­ments for fear of fur­ther attacks, which would push up costs and risk devalu­ing the price of our oil.- Elia Pellegrino, vice pres­i­dent of the Italian Olive Millers Association (AIFO)

Investigators from ICQRF, the cen­tral inspec­torate for qual­ity pro­tec­tion and anti-fraud of agri-food prod­ucts, along with the Guardia di Finanza and Customs, inter­cepted a ship­ment that lacked the legally required geo­graph­i­cal ori­gin indi­ca­tion on its trans­port doc­u­ments.

The olive oil was stored in three tanks. In a note, Guardia di Finanza offi­cials said the prod­uct had no legal doc­u­ments and was iden­ti­fied as extra vir­gin only after a phys­i­cal inspec­tion. Investigators said the scheme could have mis­led con­sumers and gen­er­ated tens of thou­sands of euros in ille­gal prof­its.

Authorities warned that plac­ing untraced oil on the Italian mar­ket threat­ens the integrity of the domes­tic extra vir­gin sec­tor. ​“By pass­ing imported oil off as domes­tic, those involved could have cre­ated unfair com­pe­ti­tion, under­min­ing the value and rep­u­ta­tion of gen­uinely Italian pro­duc­ers who com­ply with strict qual­ity and trace­abil­ity rules,” offi­cials wrote.

Initial analy­ses sug­gest that at least part of the seized batches may have entered Italy from Greece before dis­tri­b­u­tion.

In a sep­a­rate inspec­tion at a busi­ness in Lecce, ICQRF offi­cers found olive oil stocks that were not recorded in offi­cial account­ing ledgers, indi­cat­ing attempts to con­ceal their prove­nance and com­mer­cial des­ti­na­tion.

Within hours of these seizures, gang­sters assaulted and stole a truck trans­port­ing €300,000 worth of extra vir­gin olive oil. Earlier the same day, crim­i­nals hijacked another vehi­cle car­ry­ing 150 quin­tals of olives.

“Two closely timed inci­dents con­firm an already tense and alarm­ing sit­u­a­tion,” Elia Pellegrino, vice pres­i­dent of the Italian Olive Millers Association AIFO, told Olivonews. He said pro­duc­ers and trans­porters face ris­ing insur­ance and logis­tics costs as attacks increase.

“If this preda­tory sit­u­a­tion con­tin­ues, the real dan­ger is that some oper­a­tors may reduce or sus­pend ship­ments for fear of fur­ther attacks, which would push up costs and risk devalu­ing the price of our oil,” he added.

High mar­ket prices for olive oil have his­tor­i­cally fueled crim­i­nal activ­ity and fraud. Officials warn that ille­gal ship­ments could affect both avail­abil­ity and pric­ing. Puglia remains Italy’s dom­i­nant pro­duc­ing region, account­ing for 50 to 60 per­cent of national out­put.

After weeks of decline, Italian olive oil prices are sta­bi­liz­ing, even as deep dis­counts offered by major retail­ers widen the gap between super­mar­ket oils and pre­mium extra vir­gin prod­ucts.

A medium- to high-priced envi­ron­ment is also con­sid­ered a trig­ger for increased crim­i­nal activ­ity.

In 2024, ICQRF con­ducted thou­sands of inspec­tions on extra vir­gin olive oil in Italy, find­ing dis­crep­an­cies in trans­port doc­u­ments in 15 per­cent of cases.

As the har­vest moves for­ward, indus­try groups are closely mon­i­tor­ing prices and anti-coun­ter­feit­ing efforts. Many fear that large-scale ille­gal trade oper­a­tions could bring sig­nif­i­cant quan­ti­ties of untraced Tunisian olive oil into Italy, a con­cern also voiced by Spain’s COAG farm­ers’ union.

In a note to Olive Oil Times, Gennaro Sicolo, pres­i­dent of Italia Olivicola and national vice pres­i­dent of CIA Agricoltori Italiani, said emer­gency mea­sures are needed. At the same time, long-term pro­tec­tions for farm­ers’ income are con­sid­ered. Safeguarding prices, he said, is essen­tial to pro­tect­ing the ​“image of green gold,” a hall­mark of Made in Italy.

Sicolo pointed to the poten­tial acti­va­tion of an E.U.-approved mech­a­nism for reg­u­lat­ing an olive oil sup­ply. ​“The tem­po­rary with­drawal from the mar­ket of quan­ti­ties of national extra vir­gin oil can pre­vent tur­moil and ensure orderly com­mer­cial flows, ben­e­fit­ing both pro­duc­ers and con­sumers,” he said.

“I would like to express my appre­ci­a­tion and thanks to ICQRF Puglia-Basilicata, the Guardia di Finanza and Customs for the major oper­a­tion car­ried out between the port of Bari and the province of Lecce,” Sicolo con­cluded.