Olive oil prices are expected to begin to fall in the coming weeks and months after a 61 per cent rise was seen between September and September last year, consumers’ association chairman Marios Drousiotis said on Friday.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, he explained that despite the large annual increase seen in September, olive oil prices plateaued in September compared to August.

With olive yields greater this year than last year, prices are now beginning to fall, with further reductions expected, he said.

“We are expecting the prices to drop now. Production has increased, and as such, we are expecting these price reductions to be reflected in the consumer price index which we will publish at the end of October,” he said.

He added, “they have already begun to drop somewhat, and you can now buy a litre of olive oil for between €9 and €12 at most places, but we are expecting larger reductions to follow.”

This is the case, he said, because during the early summer months wildly varying price increases were seen between Cyprus’ olive oil producers.

“Two or three months ago, we saw one company increase its prices by 55 per cent, and two others increase their prices by 20 or 22 per cent. This is a massive discrepancy, and we are now asking that this be controlled,” he said.

He was keen to stress that while it is legal to have such discrepancies in prices and price increases, “we are here not only to inform people of price increases, but also to inform people why they are increasing when they do increase. We want to know why.”

The significant price increases in recent years came after a few comparatively barren years for olive oil.

Global olive oil production halved between October 2022 and October last year after reduced rainfall and a mild winter in the world’s olive oil producing countries, though more conducive conditions last winter have allowed for production to bounce back.

The price increases had upset consumers, while signs appeared on supermarket shelves in Cyprus instructing shoppers to not buy more than two olive oil items per person.

Supermarkets’ association chairman Andreas Hadjiadamou was keen to reassure consumers, however, saying that these are isolated cases.

“There is no coordinated initiative among supermarket operators to limit the amount of olive oil consumers can buy due to shortages or any other reason,” he told the Cyprus Mail at the time.