The OOCC Board of Directors met in Sacramento on June 6, where it made an estimate of the next harvest, approved the entity’s budget for the fiscal year (sampling program, research, outreach, and administration and operations) and committed to address the problem of increased profitability for olive oil producers.
According to this entity, the harvest will be “significantly” reduced this year due to both weather events and the olive tree alternate bearing, although the OOCC Board of Directors confirmed that the situation has been difficult for olive oil producers in the recent years, as many of them have faced reduced production and higher costs. Like most farmers in California, olive oil producers are also being affected by changing weather, lack of available water, inflation and supply chain issues.
Since its creation in 2014, the OOCC stressed that it has created value for California producers, enhancing the reputation of Californian olive oil by establishing requirements that ensure that this State produces high-quality olive oil. Thus, their sampling program verifies that California olive oil meets these high standards and that the bottles are properly labeled. In addition, he recalled that last year new legislation was approved to regulate the use of the word “California” on olive oil labels.
Along with these achievements, the OOCC Board agreed that it is time to focus on designing activities to increase grower profitability, such as funding additional research to help increase crop yields, improve quality and reduce costs.
The entity’s Executive Committee announced that it will meet in the coming months to carry out a general review of all the activities, policies and procedures of the OOCC and consider restructuring options that can generate additional value for farmers.
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