Traces of olive oil trading in the ancient world travel us back to more than 5 millennia ago, with Phoenicians and Minoans dominating the scenery. Phoenicians were skillful traders who sailed the Aegean to sell several kinds of merchandise. Actually, they are believed to have initially introduced the olive tree to the Greek islands. According to several archaeological findings, Minoan kings based much of their economic activity on olive oil exports to Egypt and numerous other Mediterranean regions within their reach. Several establishments have been unearthed in major Minoan commercial ports such as Kato Zakros and Kommos, where hundreds of urns used for olive oil storage (picture) were kept. Those findings combined with the fact that Minoans had taken major steps in the systematic cultivation of the olive tree, provide solid evidence according to researchers that olive oil offered substantial financial support for the flourishing of the first ever recorded European civilization. Later on, olive oil trading expanded throughout the Aegean area with reports on the trading activity being found in the palatial records of Knossos, Pylos and Mycenae.
Nowadays, olive oil trading has evolved into a huge industry with a turnover of billions of euros and hundreds of thousands of employees. Increasing demand for the product, primarily in the markets of the BRICS countries, creates favouring prospects for the industry and sounds as terrific news to the major producing countries of olive oil (Greece, Italy & Spain) which happen to find themselves in a rather harsh financial conjuncture.
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