How Italian Bottlers Source Bulk Olive Oil from Spain

Italian olive oil production has fallen sharply over the past quarter-century — from just under 800,000 tonnes a year before 2000 to roughly 300,000 tonnes in the 2025/26 marketing year, according to Il Sole 24 Ore's reporting on the sector. The same reporting puts Italy's total annual requirement at around one million tonnes: about 300,000 tonnes still comes from domestic harvests, 600,000 tonnes is consumed at home, and 400,000 tonnes is exported.

Great Italian Food Trade's market data tells a similar story from the export side: Italy's 2024 production came in at roughly 248,000 tonnes, yet the country exported approximately 344,000 tonnes that year — a volume 38.7% larger than its own harvest — worth around €3.09 billion (+42.6% year-on-year), making Italy the world's second-largest olive oil exporter by value after Spain, with roughly a 20% global share. The same source reports Italian imports running more than 250,000 tonnes in just the first four months of 2025, up 66% on the same period in 2024.

None of that arithmetic works without substantial imports. Spain, the world's largest olive oil producer and exporter, is the obvious counterparty: UN Comtrade data (via Trading Economics) puts Italy's olive oil imports from Spain at roughly US$1.71 billion in 2025, and separate International Olive Council reporting shows Spain supplying a larger share of world olive oil import volumes than any other single origin.

For an Italian bottler, buying in bulk from Spain typically means agreeing a grade and specification (Extra Virgin, Virgin, or Refined), a volume, and an Incoterm — commonly EXW or FOB from a Spanish cooperative or mill, sometimes CIF where the buyer wants shipping and insurance included — then receiving the oil in bulk format (IBC totes, a flexitank, or an ISO tank container) for blending, bottling, and labeling in Italy.

Every batch should travel with its own Certificate of Analysis confirming the chemical parameters that define its grade — free fatty acids, peroxide value, and UV absorption (K-values) for Extra Virgin and Virgin oils — checked against the agreed specification before the shipment is accepted, not assumed from a general product description.

Once Spanish bulk oil is blended or bottled in Italy, EU rules on olive oil labeling apply directly. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012, Article 4, makes an origin designation mandatory on Extra Virgin and Virgin olive oil labels — not an optional marketing claim.

For a single-origin oil, the label names the Member State, the European Union, or the relevant third country. For a blend, one of three fixed phrases applies: 'blend of olive oils originating in the European Union', 'blend of olive oils not originating in the European Union', or 'blend of olive oils originating in the European Union and not originating in the European Union' (or the equivalent reference in each case). Where the olives were grown in one place and the oil obtained in another, the regulation additionally requires wording along the lines of '(extra) virgin olive oil obtained in [place] from olives harvested in [place]'. For a bottler blending Spanish bulk oil into an Italian-labeled product, this is the rule that determines exactly what the front and back label are allowed to say.

Navarra Exports sources Extra Virgin, Virgin, Refined, and Olive-Pomace Oil in bulk from Spanish cooperatives and mills on behalf of international buyers, including Italian bottlers, and coordinates the specification, Incoterm, batch-level Certificate of Analysis, and shipping documentation for each order. Pricing, supplier identity, and logistics are confirmed per batch and per destination — nothing here is a standing quote, and nothing above should be read as a claim about a specific existing supplier relationship, certification, or completed shipment.