Make Money Investing in Olive Oil

In a world of increasingly heart conscious consumers the consumption of olive oil doubled between 1990 and 2000 and according to authorities will likely have doubled again by 2020. Ninety-five percent of olive oil comes from the countries bordering the Mediterranean with Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece being the leading produces. Because of the expected increase in consumption many believe that the major producers will just not be able to keep up with demand. There lies the opportunity for investing in olive oil.

An investor can certainly go into the business of growing olives. If he or she had an agriculture degree or, better, comes from a family with generations of experience in tending olive orchards and making oil, they may be set. However, the investor will need to find land at a reasonable price where soil conditions and climate are conducive to producing high quality olives and oil. On the other hand the investor can find an investment opportunity related to olive production. That is what this is about.

There is a company in Spain. (Spain is the world’s number one olive oil producer.) This company will work through a subsidiary in Algeria on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea to grow olives. The Algerian government is promoting a project to plant a million hectares (2.5 million acres) with olive trees for production as the fruit and for olive oil. Through its subsidiary the company will plant 1,500 hectares as an olive orchard. The company will devote 500 hectares to private investment.

Without having to till the soil, plant trees, harvest olives, grind into paste, process the paste into oil or in any way get their hands dirty an investor can profit from this endeavor. The company will be building its own modern processing plant and will have an operation that takes the olive through to the production of high quality oil from the Arbequinia olive. The potential investor would need to contact the managing representative of this project  for details. However, the investment comes down to this. After investing in the project the investor will receive interest as well as a payment of $2 per liter of oil produced for one hectare of olives. The Arbequinia olive can produce 20 liters of oil per 100 kilos of olives and is a strong producer. The investment will run for ten years and the last payment will include interest, profit on olive oil produced, and the initial investment amount.

This sort of investment is backed up by land, the olive trees, and a processing plant. Olive trees live for a long, long time. (Olive trees 2,000 years old exist around the Mediterranean.) Thus, there is a security in investing in olive trees and olive oil production. With the steadily increasing demand for olive oil this is likely to be a profitable venture far into the future. The principals in this investment estimate that investors will double their money over the ten years of the investment. With this sort of innovative thinking the company will attract those interested in both green and socially conscious investments to a project to meet a public need and grow profits as well.