Strategic responses of the European olive-growing territories to the challenge of globalization

The spread of the cultivation of olive groves outside their traditional lands of the Mediterranean with the introduction of super-intensive plantation models threatens the competitiveness of traditional European olive-growing regions. Technological changes, professional management mechanisms, large capital investments and entry into global value chains are allowing new olive plantations to produce at very low cost. The responses are shaped by a formal context that is largely collective, but with very different impacts depending on the informal institutions that determine the economic development processes in each region. This work carries out a comparative analysis of four European olive-growing regions that are employing different strategies to adapt to the changes brought about by globalization. Approaching the topic from a strategic perspective, this work shows how the responses carried out in each territory determine the potential of long-term competition and the way in which endogenous development processes evolve in each socioeconomic context. The solutions range from a change of model in the productive activity supported by external investment to developing productive systems with strong territorial anchoring.