Record Output, Record Exports — and Growers in the Red
By late 2025, Spain was producing and exporting at record levels — yet its growers tallied some €1.9 billion in losses, selling below cost for a third straight year.
What happened
Wholesale Spanish extra virgin had fallen from nearly €9,000 a tonne in January 2024 to about €4,180 by September 2025, and growers protested selling below cost for a third consecutive year. Despite record output above 1.4 million tonnes and exports up ~38%, Spanish growers counted about €1.9 billion in losses, €1.5 billion of it in Andalusia.
Here is the paradox that should end the myth that “cheap is good.” A record crop, record sales — and farmers losing nearly two billion euros. Ruinously low farm-gate prices are how groves get abandoned and the next shortage is sown. The healthiest outcome was never the cheapest oil; it’s a fair, stable price that keeps honest growers in business.
Source, late 2025: Olive Oil Times.