Even those who would never allow a single olive past their lips can find some use for its oil. A lighter, more neutral-flavored oil than some of its brethren, is perfect for sauteing veggies or for tossing in your salad for a quick dressing. Catholic priests use it to anoint the sick, and the ancient Greeks rubbed it all over their bodies when exercising in the gymnasium.
It even lends its name to Popeye's girlfriend! But where does it come from? It's easy to take modern logistics for granted: when you're in the supermarket stocking up for a busy week, it may not matter whether your olive oil comes from Spain or Italy or from magic sprites who replenish the stock while mortals sleep. But supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic (and future ones caused by climate change) have reinforced the importance of knowing the source of your goods – so it's worth asking which countries produce the most olive oil. Spain is the world leader in olive oil One might assume that the world's leading olive oil producer would be Italy.
In America, olive oil is associated most closely with Italian cuisine: our leading Italian casual dining chain is called , after all, and Don Corleone used his successful olive oil company as a front for his criminal enterprise in . But no: the world leader in olive oil is Spain, and it's not particularly close. From 2023 through 2024, Spain is expected to produce 766.
4 metric tons of olive oil, more than its next three closest competitors combined. That's.
