Olive growing and olive oil production in Portugal 65 Alentejo covered as much as 570,000 ha. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, Portuguese olive growing entered a very difficult phase due to a shortage of labour in the fields. Production costs have risen, and this, combined with the poor quality of the olive oil produced and fierce competition from much cheaper seed oils, has led to a fall in per capita consumption – which in Portugal stood at around 10.5 kg in the 1960s – to approximately 3.6 kg per capita by 1980. Nowadays, consumption in Portugal stands at around 8 kg per person per year. Olive oil production in Portugal exceeded 120,000 tonnes in the 1950s, but by the start of the 21st century, output had fallen to less than 30,000 tonnes. Even so, the olive oil trade balance has shifted from a deficit of 55 million euros in 2008 to a current surplus of around 250 million euros. Why consume olive oil? Because it is a healthy fat and because it is an unrivalled ingredient in its contribution to culinary delights! Olive oil was also the only means the ancients had for lighting, and the Greeks used it to anoint their bodies after bathing and to keep their muscles supple in the gymnasium. It was the main fuel used to burn bodies on funeral pyres and was then poured over the ashes to perfume them. Beauty creams were made from clay powder or other ingredients, mixed with olive oil. Regular scalp massages with a mixture of However, and fortunately for us, things have changed for the better in recent years, and today Portugal is … the olive oitlrade balance has shifted from a deficit of 55 moinlli euros in 2008 to a current surplus of around 250 miollin euros. olive oil, egg yolk, beer and lemon juice kept their hair strong. Olives and olive oil were used for cooking, but also for making perfume and bath oil. regarded as an unrivalled investor in Europe in this sector. In just a few years, Portugal’s share of the European Union’s olive oil production rose from 1.5 per cent to 5.0 per cent of the total. The investment made in the Alqueva dam has played a significant role in this. Water from the dam reaches 140,000 ha of fertile, gently sloping land. In 2008, Portugal had only around 4,000 to 6,000 ha of irrigated olive groves. Alqueva is placing Portugal amongst the world’s leading producers. A veritable olive-oil powerhouse. Olive production in Portugal has quadrupled in just 10 years. At present, Portugal is already the 4th or 5th largest exporter in the world, exporting around 500 million euros’ worth of olive oil, unfortunately mostly in bulk. I repeat, unfortunately, mostly in bulk. It is therefore not surprising that olive oil was in short supply in Greece as a foodstuff. But it was not just olive oil that was in short supply; by around 600 BC, there was no fertile land left for growing cereals or for rearing livestock. The Egyptians, in the 9th century BC, and later the Greeks, in the 7th century BC, and the Carthaginians, in the 3rd century BC, were thus forced to migrate by sea. These peoples reached as far as the Iberian Peninsula, where they exchanged luxury goods – olive oil and wine – for the food they needed. The Greeks introduced the cultivation of olive trees and vines to the West: Sicily, Italy, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. This is how olive oil and the olive tree came to us; with the Roman invasion in 218 BC, their cultivation developed and expanded.
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