Lebanese olive oil exports fell by more than half in the first seven months of 2026 as conflict disrupted transportation, restricted access to southern groves and raised concerns among international buyers.
Lebanese olive oil exports fell sharply in the first seven months of 2026, with official figures showing 2,575 tons shipped abroad, compared with 5,559 tons during the same period in 2025, a 53.7 percent decline.
Export value also fell 52.3 percent, from 2.28 trillion Lebanese liras (approximately €21.7 million at the time) to 1.09 trillion liras (approximately €10.7 million).
Our hope is that international buyers will again pick up with the excellent Lebanese extra virgin olive oil, which is also the source of income for thousands of families across the region.– Rose Bechara Perini, Darmmess
Yet Lebanon’s olive oil production did not experience a comparable amount. International Olive Council estimates put output at 19,000 tons in the 2024/25 crop year and 19,500 tons in 2025/26.
The latter estimate differs sharply from an earlier official forecast cited by Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani, who had projected a 40 percent decline for the 2025/26 crop year.
Behind the sharp export decline are rising logistical costs, restricted access to southern olive groves and concerns about the market perception of olive oil produced in conflict-affected areas.
The renewed conflict since March 2026 has disrupted transportation and supply chains across the country, while military operations continue in southern Lebanon. There, many olive groves have been destroyed during the conflict, while others remain intact.
According to Lebanese producers, transportation and shipping have become increasingly complicated, requiring additional authorizations and rerouting.
“This coming season, we believe we should be able to export our olive oil regularly from Beirut,” Rose Bechara Perini, founder of award-winning Darmmess, told Olive Oil Times.
Darmmess, which sources olives from groves in northern and southern Lebanon, expects to press the fruit in local mills before transporting the oil to Beirut for export.
Bechara Perini said the journey between Beirut and Deir Mimas, normally about 90 minutes, now requires a security-driven detour through the Bekaa Valley, adding three to four hours and increasing the cost of transporting materials and olive oil.
According to Bechara Perini, approximately 350,000 olive trees grow around Deir Mimas and the villages of Kawkaba and Rashaya El Foukhar, an area known locally as the Path of Revelation. Many are monumental olive trees located in areas not directly involved in the fighting.
Bechara Perini said about 20 percent of Deir Mimas’ olive groves cannot currently be reached because they fall within an Israeli-defined military buffer zone. Access to other areas under Lebanese army control requires special permits.
“Previously, we could not access some areas or easily plan work in the groves,” she said. “Now farmers are requesting permission to harvest. To gain access, you must submit documentation, including the names and identification of those who will be working there. We are now starting the harvest.”
Farmers also worry that the conflict is damaging the reputation of olive oil produced in the region, potentially weighing further on exports.
“There has been a lot of chitchat online about the safety of olive oil produced in these areas,” Bechara Perini said. “That is why we took an unprecedented initiative to counter those rumors.”
Together with local farmers, Darmmess followed sampling protocols developed by CIHEAM Bari. Bechara Perini said they collected about one kilogram of olives from groups of 15 trees across the area, from west to east and south to north.
The samples, collected in September 2026, were sent to the IOC-recognized Laboratorio Juan Antonio Tello in Jaén, Spain, and analyzed later that month. The laboratory screened oil extracted from the samples for herbicide and pesticide residues, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and radionuclides.
Glyphosate and related compounds were below 0.01 mg/kg, compared with the report’s maximum reference value of 1 mg/kg for glyphosate. Lead was below 0.02 mg/kg, compared with a maximum value of 0.10 mg/kg, while benzo[a]pyrene, one of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons tested, was below 0.5 µg/kg against a maximum of 2 µg/kg.
Arsenic, cadmium and mercury were also below 0.02 mg/kg. Iodine-131, cesium-134, cesium-137 and americium-241 were all below the laboratory’s quantification limits.
According to the laboratory analyses, the samples showed no significant contamination among the substances tested.
“Our hope is that international buyers will again pick up with the excellent Lebanese extra virgin olive oil, which is also the source of income for thousands of families across the region,” Bechara Perini said.
The broader Lebanese economy also remains under severe strain. The World Bank expects gross domestic product to contract by 6.4 percent in 2026, reversing the fragile recovery recorded in 2025.
Exports are therefore particularly important to the country’s olive oil sector. In the short term, however, southern farmers must first reach their trees, maintain their groves and bring the olives to the mill.
Ibrahim, a farmer from Deir Mimas whose family owns about 200 olive trees, said they have been unable to harvest for three years despite relying on the olives for income. As the 2026 harvest begins, he still does not know whether the family will be able to reach all the trees.
“If we manage to harvest them, the yield will be sufficient to provide the family with a decent standard of living,” he said in a comment sent to Olive Oil Times. “The olives are of excellent quality, and both we and the family would be overjoyed if we could harvest them.”
In Rashaya El Foukhar, 68-year-old Ghaith Maalouf manages about eight hectares of olive groves and three hectares of other crops. During the past four years, his family has repeatedly had to leave the village for months during periods of intense fighting.
“We have not completely stopped working, cultivating or harvesting the land,” Maalouf said. “However, there were dangerous periods when we were forced to leave the village for months, returning only when security conditions permitted.”
At times, some plots were too dangerous to reach, and parts of the crop were left unharvested. Maalouf said maintaining the groves has sometimes been even harder than harvesting them, since weed control and plowing are essential to reduce the risk of fires that could destroy ancient trees.
About 30 percent of the family’s land remains subject to access restrictions. Still, Maalouf expects this year’s output could reach about half of a normal harvest, with abundant rainfall leaving the fruit in excellent condition.
“This year’s harvest will certainly enable us to continue providing the essential services needed to keep the orchards productive in the coming years, while also securing a minimum standard of living for three families who rely primarily on these crops to meet their basic needs,” he said.
Another grower, 62-year-old Joseph Sleiman, owns approximately 1,200 centuries-old olive trees. His family couldn’t reach large parts of the grove during some of the worst periods of the conflict, when production fell to a fraction of normal levels.
“If the harvest is completed this year, it will support the family financially and provide us with a livelihood,” Sleiman said, adding that the trees are in good condition.
Bechara Perini said much of the area’s production comes from the indigenous Souri olive variety, whose ancient trees are closely associated with the millennia-old olive-growing heritage of southern Lebanon.
“Should this harvest be good as we hope, should sales be what they should be, most of the families involved will see their days renewed,” Bechara Perini said. “They have abstained from collecting olives for three years because of the war. It is time for them to go back to their fields.”