“The situation is dramatic. In Puglia, we expect that not one mill out of two will open” . In the shareholders' meeting of theAssociation of millers of Puglia held yesterday in Bari, the president Stefano Caroli (in the photo, together with the directors re-elected in the renewal of the council), did not mince words: “Here the vast majority of mills, which they are over a thousand, works for bulk oil.
If there is no certainty of orders from the oil industry, no one takes the risk, at these energy costs go crazy, to activate the machines. After all, too olive growers should be paid a higher price since they have had important costs in addition to one significantly lower production compared to last year. Those who buy Apulian olives from other regions and then manage to bottle their own brand at significant prices will continue to do so and for olive growers it could be a safety valve. But those who have always given the olives to the mills of the area, especially the mills that produce only bulk oil to be resold to the major national brands, risk finding themselves closed. Because these mills are well aware that, in the absence of written orders, they will remain with their tanks full, at the mercy of a price market that is anything but secure. There is the real prospect that many of the olives will remain on the trees, thus bringing the entire supply chain to its knees. We have already pointed this out to the regional councilor for agriculture Donato Pentassuglia this desperate situation and he undertook to check if he can find resources to support the higher costs of the mills which, as is known, are highly energy-intensive companies. We have also drawn the attention of the Cna is national is regional. If you can't find a solution here, what is one of the main regional productive sectors implodes".
