Producer and Consumer’s Perspectives on Olive Oil Quality Albania’s Case

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly demanding more quality in the product rather than a variety of attributes such as nutritional balance, health, image, presentation and, in general convenience. The demand for olive oil, an important component of the Albanian diet, has also been changing in recent years. In recent years, olive tree stock has exhibited an approximately 5% increase per year, though annual olive oil production varied substantially, ranging from 3,454 to 8,979 tons of olive oil. The variations are due to changes in yield and importing olives from neighboring countries (Kapaj 2012). The objective of this study is to analyze the olive oil market in Albania especially related to the quality of the product. To reach this objective the study will focus in Albanians olive oil consumer so we can better understand their perceptions towards olive oil quality. A descriptive analysis for the olive oil market in Albania, giving more focus to what Albanian consumers like and don’t like in this product, whether the consumers have an adequate knowledge of the specific qualities of olive oil and also the perceived quality with regard to origin, what they would like to be different, any improvements/changes they would like in the olive oil market, what is their reaction towards prices, packaging and origin of olive oil, what is their perception towards olive oil quality and how informed is the Albanian consumer on the olive oil quality, will be the method of analysis in this research. The study area is the center of Albania, Tirana (capital) and two of the other major cities (Fier and Durres) where the main markets and processing industries are located. Face to face interviews have been carried out with olive oil consumers.