Category Spotlight: Emerging Olive Oils from North Africa

Tunisia and Morocco are reinventing their olive oil businesses from bulk exports to new branded products, enlivening a mature category along the way. Learn more about their offerings—and discover three more oil-producing countries to watch from the Middle East region.

by Susan Segrest, Nicole Potenza Denis and Eva Meszaros

Tunisia: Transforming an Established Olive Oil Business

Shifting from a recognized bulk oil operation to a valuable branded, bottled business is a work in progress but this country has taken on the challenge.

If you’ve been reading the international press for much of the last year, you have seen Tunisia and its Jasmine Revolution lauded as being the birthplace of the Arab Spring. As The New York Times reported, “a sudden and explosive wave of street protests ousted the authoritarian president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled with an iron hand for 23 years.” This revolt set off a chain reaction throughout the region, sparking dramatic changes in Egypt, Libya and other Arab countries.

One of the first events Tunisian food producers participated in after the revolution was the Winter Fancy Food Show in January 2011 in San Francisco. Lemia Thabet, general manager of the Tunisian Packaging Technical Center, which has been tasked by the Ministry of Industry and Technology to promote Tunisian bottled olive oil to the world, says that immediately she saw the change in how Americans viewed Tunisia.

“First of all, everyone suddenly knew where Tunisia was located on the world map,” Thabet says. “People took the time to visit our producers’ booths, to taste the unique flavors of the Tunisian olive oil, and definitely started talking business. But one of the great takeaways from this show, however, was the unanimous outpouring of affection and support for Tunisians for their courageous people’s revolution. It seemed widely understood that although it was surprising, it was an inevitable step in the growth and maturity of Tunisia.”

Now a year later, this North African country—located to the south of Italy and Malta—has successfully completed its first elections and is moving ahead with the difficult work of carving out a new government and creating new opportunities for its people. One of the prospects many hope will succeed is the greater expansion of its bottled olive oils into the international market. It’s a change that had already been in the works but recently has gained momentum.

A Commodity Steeped in Tradition

As with many Mediterranean countries, Tunisia has a long and rich history in making olive oils. Since the 8th century BC, Tunisians have had a strong relationship with and pride in their olive oil. “From the north to the south, you won’t find a single area where the olive tree does not grow,” Thabet notes.

One of the strengths of Tunisia’s olive oil is the assortment of olive trees. “Olive oil comes in many varieties depending on olive type, climate and soil conditions, which contribute to the diversity of olive oil flavors, colors and aromas,” Thabet explains. She notes that the two main olive varieties are chemlali and chetoui, but more than 20 types are offered by Tunisian olive groves.

“All of our Tunisian olives are traditionally harvested, helping them retain a unique bouquet, a full flavor and a distinctive texture that you get from eating the olive at its source,” she adds.

From Bulk to Bottled

While Tunisia has exported tons of oil for years, international appreciation of Tunisian olive oil was hampered by the fact that it was being shipped to other countries and sold under their olive oil brands, Thabet notes. In the late 2000s the country launched a new program focusing on creating bottled olive oil under a Tunisian label.

“Since olive oil is the number-one agricultural export, it made sense to put their muscle behind bottled oil,” says Al Hamman, director of Hamman Marketing Associates, who has been working with Tunisian companies since 2000, helping to introduce the country and its products to the U.S. market. “The main goal of the program has been to turn Tunisia from a no-name olive oil that’s been blended with oils from around the world into a branded product,” Hamman explains. “Since our program promoting 100 percent Tunisian olive oil to the U.S. market began, exports of branded Tunisian olive oil have grown more than 500 percent. Tunisian olive oil is now available in several thousand retail locations across the country—and growing.”

The American Market

One Tunisian company that has successfully transitioned from the bulk to bottled olive oil market is Cho America. The company’s Terra Delyssa oils—which are offered as organic extra-virgin, conventional extra-virgin, pure and extra-light olive oil—can be found in more than 2,000 stores in North America including Whole Foods, World Market, The Fresh Market, HEB and more than 500 Loblaw’s stores in Canada.

“We started selling in the U.S. in 2000 but mainly servicing bulk importers. In the past four years we started selling [the] Terra Delyssa brand to retailers along with our private-label services,” says Wajih Rekik, CEO of the company, whose family roots in olive oil production date to the 19th century. The company’s oils have a range of certifications, including IFS, BRC, ISO 22000, HACCP, Kosher and USDA NOP Organic, and are made from ten different types of olives including chetoui, chemlali, zarrazi and arbequina.

“Tunisia has a variety of flavors: a strong fruity, peppery oil in the north and much smoother and milder flavor down south, making the country self-sufficient to offer any preferred flavor profile requested by any international market,” Rekik says.

It’s this range of flavors that speaks to consumers and culinary experts alike. Chef Roy Breiman, culinary director of Cedarbrook Lodge in Seattle, first learned of Tunisian olive oils from friends and then through trade missions to the country. He uses the oils in his restaurant because of what they add to the food.

“I appreciate the olive oils a lot. I like the uniqueness of the microclimates, including those closer to the Mediterranean and those in hotter parts of the country, and that there are small, unique farms that are doing some good stuff—good farmers who are thinking about sustainability and organics,” Breiman says. “I use the chemlali and the chemlali-and-chetoui blend as finishing oils. The chemlali has a nice bouquet to start with, a beautiful nose, a good mouth feel, and the viscosity of the oil is just right for me; it’s a little bit thick. I use it as much more of an accent than a component to the dish.” The restaurant includes the olive oils as a light accent on salads and grilled fish, in emulsion sauces and with a lamb or veal shoulder confit.

Breiman’s brand favorites for Tunisian extra-virgin olive oil include Rivière d’Or and Cho’s Terra Delyssa, but many more companies are selling in the U.S., moving into the market or taking advantage of long-standing friendships. The Tunisian specialty food producer Les Moulins Mahjoub has had a relationship with upscale casual restaurant chain Le Pain Quotidien since the 1990s; the chain is currently selling Les Moulins Mahjoub extra-virgin olive oil in tins as well as jars of harissa, sun-dried tomatoes and mountain capers at stores nationwide. Bulk and foodservice sales of Tunisian oil continue to be an important market with companies like Newman’s Own Organics using Tunisian olive oil in their products. (For a list of Tunisian olive oil producers, visit 100percenttunisian.com.)

At specialty retail, the Tunisian oils continue to gain traction with sell-through and reorders, says Hamman, whose company has helped lead Tunisian olive oil promotions in the U.S. “That tells me that consumers are embracing the oils, and retailers are pleased with the degree of promotion and awareness building that’s been done to support the brands,” he notes. “And with the advent of the Arab Spring, which was led by Tunisia, people seem to understand that each purchase of 100 percent Tunisian oil supports the farmers and producers of this important crop in the New Tunisia.”

But it’s not just international awareness of the “New Tunisia” that’s helping drive changes in the market. Cho’s Wajih Rekik notes that while the revolution did help put Tunisia on the map for some people, it has changed his company internally as well.

“We find ourselves operating in a much more stable political environment far from oppression. The revolution made me and my company more determined than ever to proudly promote Tunisia’s name and culture.”—S.S.

Morocco’s Olive Oils: A Focus on Fine Extra-Virgin Products

Through modernization of facilities and techniques, this country is turning its export energy to extra-virgin oils and an expansion of olive groves and varieties.

For decades, Morocco—well known for its pristine Picholine olive groves that thrive on the foothills of the Atlas Mountains—has exported its olives and olive oil to other European countries.

The country is currently the world’s second-largest olive exporter, after Spain, with an estimated 60,000 tons. Morocco ranks fifth in olive oil exports, with more than 90 percent of its olive oil produced from the Picholine variety, according to MAROC Export, the Moroccan Center for Export Promotion, a government agency in charge of export development. But it’s only in recent years that the country has focused on exporting fine extra-virgin olive oil to the U.S.

Morocco has a plethora of what it takes to make a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, including the ideal climate for olive cultivation in the main growing regions near Taounate, Taza, Fez, Meknes, Beni Mellal and Marrakech, where Picholine groves are abundant. But in the past, say producers, the country’s old-fashioned and dogmatic ways regarding production, antiquated equipment and an interest in quantity rather than quality, had steered focus away from international export of high-end oils.

Now all that is changing. Producers are winning awards, in Morocco and internationally, and the country is putting its efforts into promotion of its finer-quality offerings, as well as building awareness of Moroccan olive oil in general.

“People don’t realize that when they buy a private-label–branded olive oil it is a blend, and there is a good chance that it contains oil from Morocco and other North African countries,” says Ersilia Moreno, owner of Olive Oil of the World, an online store that sells olive oils specializing in indigenous olive species. Through her shop, Moreno currently offers Desert Miracle, a high-end variety from Atlas Olive Oil, one of Morocco’s oldest and most established olive oil farms.

A Growing Reputation for Fine Oils

“The potential for Morocco to export its olive oil [to the U.S.] is huge,” says Mustapha Haddouch, owner of Mustapha’s Fine Foods, in Seattle, Wash. Some 15 years ago, Haddouch helped to lay the groundwork for the introduction of Moroccan olive oil to the American palate. Working with a small grower in Morocco, he took a hands-on approach with the production process, making sure the product achieved an acceptable flavor profile. The resulting olive oil, which bore a nutty aftertaste, was named Mustapha’s Moroccan Extra Virgin Olive Oil and in 1999 went on to win an NASFT sofi Award in the Outstanding Oil category.

In the past two to three years, with help from the Moroccan government to further develop the olive oil industry in Northern Africa, Morocco’s olive oil trade is gaining ground, and its reputation for fine extra-virgin oils is building, helping the country become a key player in the emerging global olive oil scene.

Expanding Business

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization, whose mission is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in economies in transition, has been successfully working with small-scale Moroccan producers to improve existing modes of production. This process has included upgrading and modernizing facilities and campaigning to market local products professionally to heighten the value of Moroccan olive oil. Unido has even assisted in the planting of more trees to cultivate additional olive varieties such as Spanish arbequina and Moroccan dahbia olive, part of an olive grove expansion program.

In 2008, the Moroccan government introduced the Green Plan for Agriculture, a program that incentivized farmers in many rural and mountainous areas to switch from wheat or other crops to olive trees. Not only would olive cultivation bring in more income than other farm sectors, but it would also help to modernize the olive oil sector, create more jobs and raise the production of olive oil in Morocco to some 340,000 tons yearly.

To further its new initiatives, MAROC Export has amped up its communications to include TV and radio commercials, billboards and taxi banners advertising Moroccan olive oil. The strategy already underway in Europe, is filtering to the U.S.

“Each year Maroc Export increases its presence and exhibition space at the Summer Fancy Food Shows and this will be the first year exhibiting some eight olive oil companies at the Winter Fancy Food Show,” says Nadia Rhaouti, manager at Maroc Export. The agency has also organized a business-to-consumer promotion at New York Metro Area Food Emporiums, which carry several Moroccan products.

Future Potential

Aside from Mustapha’s and companies such as Atlas, the Moroccan olive oil presence on U.S. store shelves is still budding.

Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Mich., for example, offers a North African olive oil selection that has until now been focused on Tunisia, but the retailer is open to new varieties. “I hear more Moroccan oils are coming on the market and that is great,” says co-owner Ari Weinzweig.

Olive Oil of the World’s Moreno has been selling Atlas Desert Miracle, a medium-fruity blend of arbequina and dahbia olives, for a few years. She says the oil is fantastic and certainly has a core following but there can be challenges to restocking. Morocco’s distribution channels are getting better organized, says Moreno, adding, “Once that happens, the market for export will open up, for sure.”

The consumer palate is being expanded with foods from Morocco as retailers increasingly add the cuisine to prepared-foods menus. Cookbook author Paula Wolfert, a Moroccan food authority, just updated her 1973 cookbook The Food of Morocco—and now has a following of more than 2,500 members in her Moroccan Cooking group on Facebook. All these trends point to a receptive consumer audience as Moroccan olive oils make more of an appearance on U.S. retail shelves. “People are intrigued by it,” Moreno says. “Anything that comes from Morocco has an exotic appeal.”

“Consumers in the U.S. do not know of the potential Moroccan olive oil has,” Mustapha Haddouch says. “The interest is growing, but consumers need to be educated on its flavor profile and how good [the oils] really are.”—N.P.D. |SFM|

Susan Segrest, Nicole Potenza Denis and Eva Meszaros are contributing editors and associate editor, respectively, of Specialty Food Magazine.

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