Despite being the world’s 3rd largest producer of olive oil with 11% of the average global yield, only 3% of Greek olive oil is exported in bottles or tins, while just 1% of it is currently being exported to the U.S., the world’s largest net importer of olive oil.
With each Greek consuming 23 liters of olive oil annually -twice as much as compared to Italians and Spaniards, and 35 times more than the average American (i.e. 0.65 liters annually), what is left over from the annual harvest is exported in bulk, to the world’s top olive oil marketer, Italy. It is used to enhance some of the home grown oils, with the blends then bottled and exported as Italian.
Only 1% of Greek EVOO is exported to the US in bottles, branded as Greek.
