Mexico, an up and coming market for olive oil

Buyers from Mexico will be present at the next World Bulk Oil Exhibition, the International Meeting of Olive Oil, taking place on 13 and 14 March 2013 in Madrid

The Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional, in collaboration with the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the Spanish Oil Exporters Association (ASOLIVA), have launched a highly ambitious campaign to promote olive oil in a country of 112 million inhabitants who know little about this olive oil but where there is significant growth potential, especially for virgin olive oil.

Spain currently dominates 80% of the bulk olive oil sales in Mexico, with 8.5 million kilos and 77% in value, totalling 27 million euros. These figures are well above Italy’s, with sales of around two million kilos, worth seven million euros in total; and Spain is substantially ahead of Argentina, which exports 93,000 kilos; Chile which sells around 85,000 kilos; Greece 17,000 kilos, and Tunisia, with just over 11,000 kilos.

Although Mexico also produces olive oil, its output barely reaches 17,000 kilos in the best of years. The Spanish promotional campaign therefore comes at an important time; especially as olive oil is gradually gaining ground on other more heavily-consumed oils such as soya, sunflower, rapeseed, corn, and safflower.

The Spanish campaign is targeting all segments of the country’s consumers and housewives in particular. The campaign, which began in late September, will run over two weekends in 50 supermarkets in major Mexican cities (Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey) with a promotional display stand for sampling the product, a leaflet with information about Spanish olive oil —of which 300,000 copies have been published—, and a recipe book that will be given to each person who buys a bottle of Spanish olive oil. A total of 100,000 of these recipe books have been printed for the campaign.

WORLD BULK OIL 2013

The second edition of the World Bulk Oil Exhibition, or International Meeting of Olive Oil, will take place on 13 and 14 March in the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid. The World Bulk Oil Exhibition aims to serve as a tool for producers and importers; it is a meeting point for business and for the progress and future of the industry, with the capacity to bring together in the same space the largest producers of quality bulk olive oil and the main importers from around the world. The first edition was held in April 2012 and was attended by 134 producers and packagers, as well as over 2,000 professionals from across the globe.

For this second edition, the organisers of the International Meeting of Olive Oil are increasing their efforts to attract producers and buyers in places where the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional carries out promotional work, with the aim of creating synergies that enhance international trade, to the benefit of all olive oil professionals.