Unfair Practices : The failure of regulation

Penalties for unfair practices in 2023-2024 amount to only 665,000 euros against estimated damages of at least 350 million annually. in essence on prices and unfair practices the ‘dolce far niente’ of Italian politics continues. Remember this when you see the next tractors in the square or when you hear about the sad affairs of groups like Auchan, Casino, Carrefour Italia and others

Quick Take — Only 45.9% of the extra virgin olive oil (EVO) in Italy is domestically produced

.. the Italian product is down 36 per cent annually, while stocks from the EU are up 57.2 per cent, indicating a growing reliance on imports. Italy faces structural challenges: plant diseases such as Xylella [which has affected Italy’s most important olive-growing region and will not give up], prolonged drought, extreme weather events and afragmented agriculture

According to the most recent data, Italy produced around 240,000 tonnes of olive oil in the 2024/2025 campaign, down 90,000 tonnes from the previous year. However, domestic demand amounts to about 850-900,000 tonnes per year (domestic consumption of 550,000, plus 300-350,000 tonnes for export.

This results in a structural deficit of at least 610-660 thousand tonnes, covered through imports, mainly from Tunisia, Spain, Greece and other EU and non-EU countries…

In essence, Italian oil covers roughly 27% of requirements (domestic consumption and exports).

On this subject , olive oil is a good parameter for assessing the static nature of Italian agriculture, but also because the oil we put on the table is often very bad. Worth mentioning: a bill defining Italian extra virgin quality for the first time even though, unfortunately, Italian oil and supermarkets have once again become INCOMPATIBLE.

Below: Xylella and undercutting are two of the many problems of extra virgin oil

Compiled 21 June, updated 8 August 2025

Quick Take — Veneto: corporalism and unfair practices in the large-scale retail trade

“… the regional councillor of the Mixed Group, Stefano Valdegamberi, who in a note denounces the expansion of a parallel system made up of forced labour, exploitation, tax evasion and fraud on traceability, which is bringing honest farming to its knees, leading to the lowering of prices…

In the Veneto region, Valdegamberi reports the activity of companies created with the sole purpose of importing vulnerable foreign labour, sometimes in return for bribes of up to eight thousand euro.

The working conditions offered are said to be seriously degrading, with wages of 2-3 euro per hour and housing situations described as ‘inhuman’. The agricultural products obtained through this system would then be placed in large-scale distribution at prices lower than the real production costs…

Read : Unfair practices : The failure of regulations and Francesco Mutti : Chinese imports damage the ‘dignity’ of Italian tomatoes

Italian cheesemakers cool their cows to protect their milk

Butter – the cost of which has risen by 83% year-on-year – is made from milk fat and cream and therefore its production requires a lot of milk, the global supply of which has declined, partly due to the diseases that have affected dairy cow herds in Europe, and partly due to the high cost of feed. Then there is the issue of climate change that causes milk prices to skyrocket as Granarolo confirms