As price of olive oil soars, chainsaw-wielding thieves target Mediterranean's trees

Two men wait to unload olives into a loading bin at an olive oil mill in Spata suburb, east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. Across the Mediterranean, warm winters, massive floods, and forest fires are hurting a tradition that has thrived for centuries. Olive oil production has been hammered by the effects of climate change, causing a surge in prices for southern Europe's healthy staple.

The olive groves outside Athens are part of a tradition that stretches back to antiquity, on plains that now surround the city’s international airport. Some trees are centuries old. The thefts are driving some growers to harvest early, which means accepting lower yields to avoid long-term damage to their trees. That includes Christos Bekas, who was among the farmers at Papachristou's mill who were dumping their crop into stainless steel loading bins, untying sacks and tipping over tall wicker baskets from the back of their pickup trucks.

After decades of growth, the global olive oil market has been disrupted by a nearly two-year drought in Spain, which typically accounts for about 40% of world supply. It's expected to shrink global production to 2.5 million metric tons this crop year, down from 3.4 million a year earlier.

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