Olive growers in Italy’s Puglia region have staged road blockades and mass demonstrations in Bari after mill-gate olive oil prices collapsed from roughly €9 per kilogram last year to about €4 per kilogram this October, a drop producers say no longer covers their rising costs.
Why Puglia’s olive farmers are protesting
On October 5, 2026, around 200 to 300 growers, organized by the Comitato Rivolta Olivicoltori, blocked a provincial road between Bitonto and Palombaio in the province of Bari. The protests escalated through the week, with the group Orgoglio Olivicolo and the farming union Coldiretti each holding large demonstrations in Bari that drew thousands of participants, according to reporting by Il Fatto Alimentare and Il Post. Farmers say rising fuel, energy, and labor costs have made the current price unsustainable, with some mills suspending processing altogether. The Puglia regional government has already pledged 30 million euros to help agricultural businesses cover production costs, and a delegation of growers was scheduled to meet Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture on October 22.
Farmers blame cheap imports and mislabeling
Protesters argue that low-priced imported oil — including Tunisian olive oil, which can enter the European Union duty-free up to an annual quota under a long-standing EU-Tunisia trade agreement — is driving down the prices Italian producers receive. They are calling for stricter supermarket controls, clearer country-of-origin labeling, and an end to the practice of bottling foreign oil in Italy and selling it as Italian. The local health authority, ASL Bari, has said it will carry out inspections to verify the origin of oil sold in the area.
For buyers sourcing from Tunisia, this dispute is a reminder that origin documentation matters more than ever: as scrutiny of labeling tightens across EU markets, working with verified Tunisian suppliers and a clean, traceable supply chain is what lets genuine Tunisian olive oil keep moving smoothly into Europe even as political pressure around imports grows.
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FAQ
Why did olive oil prices in Puglia collapse in 2026? Prices fell due to a larger 2026 harvest increasing supply, competition from lower-priced imported oils, and rising production costs for Italian growers, pushing mill-gate prices from about €9/kg in 2025 to about €4/kg in October 2026.
Are Tunisian olive oil imports linked to the Puglia protests? Yes. Italian farmer groups say duty-free Tunisian oil entering the EU under a trade agreement is one of several competitive pressures on local prices, and they are demanding stricter origin labeling rather than a ban on imports.
Source: Il Fatto Alimentare
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