The national head of the olive groves and provincial secretary of COAG Jaén, Francisco Elvira, has assessed the acquisition of Deoleo by Andalusian companies “very positively,” underlining that “in the end this company will remain in Andalusia.”
Along these lines, the farming organization has warned, through an audio released by Europa Press, that “we have fewer and fewer intermediaries and fewer and fewer companies that control a larger volume of oil, which represents a threat to competition in the value chain.”
At the same time, COAG has stressed that, although it recognizes as positive that the operation keeps the company in the hands of an Andalusian cooperative, the progressive concentration of intermediary power in a few companies constitutes a structural problem for the olive oil sector.
On the other hand, from UPA Andalucía, the general secretary, Jesús Cózar, has likewise assessed “very positively” that Deoleo continues to be in the hands of Andalusian companies and he trusts that “it will result in our having a greater presence at a global level.”
In this context, from UPA-A they have mainly called for “the union of large groups to be able to lead to an increase in the prices at origin of olive oil, which are very low currently.”
Finally, UPA-A trusts that those responsible for these business groups will be able to defend a “reasonable” price in the market and that “they pay producers a price that we can cover our production costs with.”