Productivity and technical efficiency of olive oil producers in the western mediterranean region of Türkiye analyzed by data envelopment analysis

Olive oil generates significant income in Türkiye; however, oil-producing businesses suffer from numerous operational challenges. The olive oil industry has been growing recently in the Western Mediterranean Region of the country; nevertheless, the productivity and operational efficiencies of businesses in the region are unknown. Hence, this study analyzed the operational efficiencies of 30 olive oil-producing enterprises in Antalya Province through surveys conducted in 2022-2023, employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results indicated efficiency scores ranging from 30.9% to 100%, with a mean value of 73.4%. The highest operational capacity of the businesses was 59% during the season, resulting in 20% oil production from the processed olives. Olive oil prices ranged from 58.6 to 93.7 TL per liter, depending on the quality. Bulk wholesale channels were the major players in the oil industry (72% of total), whereas 20% of production was sold directly to consumers, and 8% was available in retail outlets. The DEA analysis revealed that large amounts of resources were unused; hence, input usage can be reduced by 27% without compromising production quantity. The major problems reported by the respondents included high production costs, unstable prices, labor shortage, inadequate waste disposal systems, slow technological innovation, and poor resource management. These results necessitate active collaboration between farmers and businesses to reduce problems and improve processing efficiency.