Soma olive harvest faces crisis amid falling prices and rising costs

In the Soma district of Manisa, Turkey, the olive harvest is facing severe economic challenges due to plummeting product prices and skyrocketing production costs. Producers report that while input costs like fertilizer, fuel, and labor have surged, the price of olives for oil has dropped to as low as 10 TL per kilogram in some areas, significantly below the 20 TL per kilogram cost required just for harvesting.

This economic downturn has directly impacted seasonal workers, many of whom are retirees or low-income individuals. Workers have reported difficulty receiving their daily wages because producers are unable to sell their crops profitably. Some laborers described extreme financial hardship, noting they must collect scrap metal at night to pay bills or struggle to afford basic necessities like food.

Producer Ertuğrul Özcan noted that wholesale olive oil prices have fallen from the 300–350 TL range last year to 200–250 TL this year. He questioned why lower producer prices are not being reflected in supermarket retail prices, noting that the financial burden is currently being borne almost entirely by the producers and laborers.