Olive oil serves up robust sales

THE ARTICLES ON THESE PAGES ARE PRODUCED BY CHINA DAILY, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS

A farmer checks out olive trees at an orchard in Longnan, Gansu province, in July (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Sales of olive oil have seen robust growth in China as young consumers have been increasingly paying attention to healthier lifestyles. People often associate the product with Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey, which boast long histories of olive planting.

However, Longnan, in Gansu province, has developed into the largest olive-tree producing area in China. The International Olive Council regards the region as a primary production zone suitable for olive-tree planting.

In the 1960s the Albanian government gifted China more than 10,000 olive saplings, which were then planted in many parts of the country on a trial basis. Longnan began to plant olive trees in the early 1970s. Olive oil is often called “liquid gold”, and extra-virgin olive oil is widely used in foods, cosmetics and medicines.

Longnan Xiangyu Olive Development Co Ltd, an olive-oil retailer in Longnan, said that due to the pandemic, Chinese consumers have been paying more attention to healthy living, and the trend has stimulated higher demand for olive oil in the market.

“In the first half, our online sales of olive-oil products surged 140 per cent year-on-year,” said Ma Tong, deputy general manager of Xiangyu. Longnan boasts the largest planting area for olive trees in China, and the output of the fruit accounts for 90 per cent of the country’s total.

Employees work on an olive-oil production line of Longnan Xiangyu Olive Development Co Ltd in Gansu province (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The climate and soil of Longnan are similar to that of the Mediterranean coast, being located at a latitude between 32.58 degrees and 33.36 degrees, which is comparable to latitudes in Spain and Italy. The production zone in Gansu is regarded as a golden region for olive-tree planting, and it has introduced and successfully planted more than 100 premium varieties of olives.

With abundant sunshine and little rainfall, the zone boasts favourable conditions to grow the commodity. The planting area for olives in Longnan exceeds 162 square miles, accounting for 49 per cent of the total in China.

The annual output of olive oil in Longnan reached 5,700 tonnes, which made up 85 per cent of the total in China, and annual sales revenue of olive oil reached 2.05 billion yuan (£240million), according to the local government.

The popularity and reputation of Chinese-made olive oil is constantly rising, and Xiangyu has received a number of international awards recognising its quality. The company now focuses on sales in the domestic market but will try to go global in the next few years. By the end of this year, Xiangyu said, it plans to register an overseas branch in Spain and further increase its investment overseas.

In recent years, Longnan has increased co-operation with Mediterranean countries. The enhanced co-operation aims to introduce better varieties and initiate technical exchanges. Gansu Times Olive Technology, an olive-oil producer in Longnan, spent more than 6 million yuan (£716million) in 2019 to introduce two advanced olive-oil production lines from Italy. The advanced production lines have helped to raise processing efficiency and guarantee product quality, the company said.

“China introduced olive-tree saplings from abroad, and later olive planting started to grow big in China,” said Jiang Chengying, a researcher with the Gansu Research Academy of Forestry Science and Technology. “The planting of olive trees has helped build a bridge for communications and collaboration between east and west.”

Previously published on Chinadaily.com.cn