Purchase criteria for Argan oil

The laborious Argan oil production and its consequences

From one single Argan tree approx. 30 kg of fruits can be harvested. Moroccan Berber women then squeeze out about 1 liter of Argan oil from one 30 kg harvest. For these women the extraction of Argan oil means daily 8 hours of hard work. Furthermore, Argan oil is one of the rarest viands in the world; in its rarity comparable with e.g. truffles or caviar. According to official statements from Morocco, about 4 million liters of Argan oil are produced every year – a rather very small amount compared to the approx. 1.8 billion liters of olive oil, which are mostly machine made.

The minimum yields of extracted Argan oil as well as the worldwide very high appreciation of the oil lead to the fact that on the market very often Argan oils are offered that have been blended with poor-quality oils.

The best procedure for the production of Argan oil

Right now, one can witness a debate going on in the Internet, where people hotly discuss the question of which procedure is actually the best for the production of Argan oil. However, everyone joining in this debate states that his or her own way or manner of producing Argan oil is the best or at least better than that of the other competitors. Which production procedures for Argan oil now is actually the "right and only one"? The answer you will get here.

Declaration confusion

Refined edible fats and oils are removed of lecithin, degummed, deacidificated and deodorized. They may be bleached, fractionated (winterized) and/or re-esterified. As partly refined edible fats and oils are considered which have gone through only some of the processing steps mentioned above (e.g. deodorization). Refined as well as partly refined edible oils shall not be labeled 'cold pressed' oder 'from first pressing' nicht verwendet werden. Any information leading to confusion with cold-pressed oils shall not be used as well. Hence, if there is a talk of deodorized cold-pressed Argan oil, one should rather take this with a pinch of salt.
If the Argan almonds are roasted in order to stress out or improve their nutty aroma, the oil shall not be labeled 'nativ'.

The merchandise of Argan oil within the EU without concession is prohibited!

Not every company is allowed to bring into circulation Argan edible oil. There are only very few companies which are notified according to the Novel Food council regulation, i.e. which have the concession to sell Argan edible oil within the EU. And of course, we do belong to this illustrious circle!

Because of the fact that most traders know that their poor-quality Argan oil is not able to fulfill the demands of the Novel-Food-Regulation, a concession application is not even handed in, and their Argan oil is simply smuggled into the EU.

What do you have to watch out for when purchasing Argan oil?

We cannot decide for you, whether you should rather buy cold pressed, extracted or refined Argan oil. But please pay attention to the following: Check list

What do you have to accept regarding Argan oil?

Oil kept at much too low temperature, possibly in cold storage, may reason in a darkening of the oil or in flakes appearing in it. Afterwards kept at room temperature, the Argan oil becomes clear again without suffering any loss of quality.

A small amount of sediment (also known as decantate or depot) remaining in the sales units cannot be avoided and does not at all influence the quality of the Argan oil. The sediment rather proves the naturalness of the oil and that it has not been refined. By shaking the bottle, the sediment dissolves in the oil, but our recommendation is, to actually leave it at the bottom.