ARGANE AOUZAC

Founder Alban Colon de Franciosi first fell in love with Tazghlilte in the Anti-Atlas mountains 17 years ago. He was visiting a friend in the region of Taroudant when he noticed the abundance of argan trees—and the opportunity to stimulate the local economy by creating fair and sustainable employment for local women. He relocated and set up an argan oil processing facility. The first in Morocco to be certified organic and Fair Trade, they now export their oil all over the world.

“Argane Aouzac began operations in 2006 and is now working with well-known laboratories in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania. Argane Aouzac is the provider for companies that have won many awards all over the world for the high quality of their argan oil.”

Argane Aouzac works with over 600 women in six villages to collect the fallen fruits, remove the flesh and hand-crack them to extract the kernel. They’re paid Fair Trade prices for their work, and their wages are handed directly to each woman – not their husband. Men in the region commonly leave to work in Casablanca shortly after getting married, only returning one or two months out of the year. As a result, women and children make up over 80% of the population – and the responsibility of caring for their families and the village has fallen on their shoulders.

at the heart of a fair trade project, a high quality argan oil

  • Our argan oil factory, located in the heart of Moroccans anti-atlas mountains

  • As a continuation of our sustainable development and environmental preservation activities, we have equipped our factory with solar panels.

  • Our factory complies with all applicable hygiene standards

  • We carry out a full control (quality and tracability) of the argan, from the harvest to the final product

  • Our factory complies with all applicable hygiene standards

  • We control and sort by hand the argan kernels to select only the best

  • We control and sort by hand the argan kernels to select only the best

  • We control and sort by hand the argan kernels to select only the best

  • The majority of our staff came from the village. After being trained on the job, they are now highly qualified.

  • Our press room composed of 6 machines that allow us to meet the demands of our customers

  • Our decanting room where the freshly pressed oil decants a week to ten days in 100% stainless steel tanks before filtering.

  • After decanting, we filter the oil in order to obtain a pure product without any impurity.

  • Now, direct from our mountain factory, our oil is ready to be deliver to our customers all over the world.

  • After selecting the best argan fruits, the best kernels, and following a strict production process, we obtain a high quality argan oil.

Quality and traceability

Argane aouzac has set up its factory in the anti-atlas mountain, heart of our harvest and crushing area which allows us to follow the traceability of the argan fruit and to control the quality from the harvest to the final product. Our factory is fully-equipped for grinding the seeds to extract the oil using the cold-press process.
Argane Aouzac can produce fifty tons of argan oil per year, and is the leading producer of high quality and competitively priced argan oil in Morcco, meeting the needs of the rapidly growing overseas market whilst supporting the local Berber population and maintain the preservation of the forest of Argan trees.
Quality on delivery of the extracted seeds to Argane Aouzac, a detailed quality control analysis is undertaken in its laboratory. Following the analysis, the seeds are ground and then cold-pressed to extract their oil. The oil is then passed though a filtration process and is subjected to a further quality control test before being packed and shipped all over the world.
Argane Aouzac is organic certified by Ecocert and offers organic argan oil according to NOP standards and regulation CE 889/2008. To meet your application requirements, we propose a wide choice of argane oils: virgin, roasted, organic certified by Ecocert.

Argane Aouzac has fair trade and organic certification

A FAIR TRADE PROJECT (Fair For Life)

Argane Aouzac is involved in local development and protection of the argan tree. We try to have an impact on all our harvest and crushing area but mainly in our village : Tazghilite. Actions like access to clean drinking water, power lines and a garbage collection have been installed, each family owns livestock, and thousands of olive trees have been planted in the region by Argane Aouzac in honor of Earth Day.
Argane Aouzac works in partnership with Association Tazghlilite for the development : this association understand the women and helps us find out what their needs are.
In its fair trade approach, Argane Aouzac offers to women crushers fruit pulp for them to feed the animals. Argane Aouzac also offers women the shells of nuts that allows them to heat their homes : they do not need to cut wood from the argan tree anymore. Argan Aouzac is really invested in protecting the argan forest.

You can discover our many actions in the Fair trade section.

For example the major water project in the village of Ait Gah which brings together 80 crushers, Argane Aouzac carried out a borehole more than 100 meters deep to find water.

We were able to create a well and a water tower that works with a pump powered by solar panels.

This project supplies 100 houses with running water and has considerably improved the functioning and hygiene of the village.

All the houses are connected to the drinking water network.
The population organizes its reasonable management of water.

 

  • In the rocky and desertic mountains of the anti-atlas, the argan tree is the only natural resource for the inhabitants.

  • Our company has established itself in the heart of the desert mountains of the anti-atlas.

  • In the rocky and desertic mountains of the anti-atlas, the argan tree is the only natural resource for the inhabitants.

  • Women from the village of Tazghlilite crushing “affiache” – the fruit of argan – to extract the kernel – the “znin”.

  • Women from the village of Tazghlilite crushing “affiache” – the fruit of argan – to extract the kernel – the “znin”.

  • Women from the village of Ait Goth crushing “affiache” – the fruit of argan – to extract the kernel – the “znin”.

  • Women from the village of Ait Goth crushing “affiache” – the fruit of argan – to extract the kernel – the “znin”.

  • We financed and distributed, in collaboration with an NGO, school bags for the children of the villages.

  • We participated in the development of literacy courses for women in villages.

  • We financed a women carpet weaving center to enable them to develop another economic activity in parallel with crushing

  • ALBAN (OUR CEO) AND FATIMA (OUR SUBTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER) WITH WOMEN OF THE ASSOCIATION TAGHZLILITE FOR SUBSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

     

  • Well in Ait gah

CONTACT

Argane AouzacDouar Tazghlilite83000 TAROUDANTMOROCCOGPS : 30°11’44.87″ N8°37’24.45″ W Tel. +212 6 13 88 14 04 contact@argane-aouzac.com