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N. African Producers Move from Bulk to Branded | Olive Oil Times
Morocco is making a name for itself in the olive oil market after successful reforms:
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Neighboring Morocco, already the second-largest global exporter of table olives, is reaping the rewards of the government’s Green Morocco plan for olive farming. In 2008, The Moroccan Government introduced the program to encourage farmers in rural areas to switch to growing olive trees instead of wheat or other crops, creating more jobs and a boost to olive oil production. Thanks to the initiative, Morocco now has one million hectares dedicated to olive groves.
According to the Moroccan center for Export Promotion, Morocco has almost doubled its production in six years to 1.5 million tons. The olive oil sector has greatly reduced unemployment for women in particular, creating over 300,000 permanent jobs
Up until now, the quality of Moroccan olive oil was relatively unknown but researchers, using industry standards recently analyzed and published their report on the quality and purity of Moroccan olive oil in the journal Food Chemistry. Researchers classified 94 percent as extra virgin and only 6 percent as virgin oil. One Moroccan olive oil brand, Morok O, won a Gold Award at the NYIOOC…[FULL STORY]