Tunisia's olive oil exporters decry missed opportunities

STORY: Mustapha Mtiraoui's olive groves produce an award-winning oil.

The Tunisian says he could make far more money by exporting his produce in labeled bottles, rather than shipping it in bulk.

But access to financing, a shortage of bottling plants and dominant bigger producers make that impossible, he says.

Tunisia is already one of the top three olive oil exporters with a record $1.3 billion in revenue last year.

But around 90% of Tunisia's average 220,000 tonnes-a-year olive oil output is exported unbottled.

Most is sold to European countries which blend it and re-export under Spanish or Italian brands at higher prices.

"Although I won five gold medals in world competitions for quality in 2022, I still haven't ventured into canning due to its many obstacles and difficulties. The most crucial challenge is ensuring the product's availability all 12 months - when a customer requests it to be packed and shipped, the product must be delivered to the client on time."

He says raising the money to expand his operations or build necessary storage facilities himself is difficult.

And that Tunisia lacks enough bottling plants for olive oil, with priority going to the largest companies.

Adding that the difficulties faced by many Tunisian producers should concern policy makers - anxious to bring in more foreign currency from exports as the government navigates a public finances crisis.

Houssem Saad is from Alert - a Tunisian civil society organization focused on economic issues.

"10% of exporters monopolize 70% of export quantities and have 96% of export revenues, while more than 51% of exporters can only export 1% of the quantities and have 1% of revenues. These are the individuals who export less than 100 tons per year. Why does this issue arise? Because the most crucial condition for exporting olive oil is financial, and banks are the ones selecting recipients for seasonal loans so they can exert control over the sector."

Slow turnaround times at Tunisia's main Rades port are also to blame, according to producers.

The World Bank said two years ago the average turnaround time was 18 days - around three times as long as ports in Morocco.

Officials say Tunisia has ambitious plans to increase output of bottled olive oil.

The state news agency said last year the agriculture ministry planned to renew older olive groves with new varieties.

An official at the state Oil Office says measures including increasing customs duty on bulk olive oil exports and marketing the product outside Europe will improve the situation.