Palestinian food brand says UK sales up 50% as shoppers show solidarity | Palestine
A Palestinian Food brand, shoppers with the Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank, searched olive oil in solidarity of the UK sales increased by 50% in 2024 to 3.2 million pounds, he said.
Zaytoun, the word olive olives in Arabic, is a social initiative established to support the flexibility of Palestinian communities through fair trade.
Zaytoun’s General Manager Manal Ramadan White said that the region offers a concrete way to buy extra virgin olive oil and Medjool dates and to help the Palestinians.
“They can hold it in their hands and I did it even if it was a small action,” he said. The upright increase in sales, “people who want to make a difference with the forces of purchasing,” he added.
At this time of the year, a marketing pressure made by the Fairtrade Foundation aims to raise awareness and sales of food and beverages bearing the ethical stamp of the aid organization.
The logo is an additional amount called Fairtrade Premium, which enters a common fund for producers to use a certain minimum price, as well as to use it because workers and farmers deem appropriate. In 2024, the sales of Fairtrade products, including England coffee, tea and bananas, won £ 28 million.
However, customers looking for their unique logo cannot find it in Zaytoun’s olive oil. This means that the security situation cannot complete the controls required for the certificate.
Ramadan White said, “We have not received Fairtrade Organic Certified Olive Oil from Palestine for a year,” Ramazan White said. “The certificate was withdrawn in a very short time and without the transfer.”
In a statement published on Thursday, the Fairtrade Foundation and the wider Fair Trade Movement promised to “raise our voices in solidarity with the West Bank, which was deliberately dismantled our voices and their future.
Eleanor Harrison, General Manager of Fairtrade Foundation, said as a movement, “We believe that every person has the right to live in safety and work and determine their own future.”
“We support fairness, solidarity and strengthening people to decide on their own future. We cannot remain silent while the foundations of life are destroyed.”
Zaytoun still buys “the same” olive oil from small -scale farmers in the West Bank and hopes that a new local auditor will be available to confirm the new harvest. 500ml bottle sells about £ 15.
The destruction images in Gaza make it difficult to think about agricultural production. However, Ramadan White said that olive farming is an integral part of most of the rural Palestine. “The landscape is dotted with olive trees… Most families have 20 or thousands.
“The durability of the olive tree is very symbolic for the Palestinians. A metaphor for their flexibility and hardness in all these difficult times.”
Although the demand for Zaytain products with almonds and giant couscus is strong, it was not easy to keep the show on the road.
His products are sent from the port of Israel Haifa, but the journey takes a long time. The vehicles must deviate to pass through the checkpoints, and the pallets must be stacked much lower than the capacity to allow them to jump on Sniffer dogs.
In 2004, when Zaytoun started as an attempt by a group of friends inspired by Zaytoun’s Palestinian trip, he said that what seems to be a “impossible situation” became worse.
“But we saw that the demand here matched this climb… From 2023 to 2024, we grew about 50% from the England market, which wants to show support in some way.”
Initially, he said that people questioned whether Zaytoun was a applicable job. “The purchase of products is really expensive, so there is not too much profit margin,” he said “price scores are really high here for consumers, so people thought they would not buy them”.
“This was an action that only set out thanks to the people who answered him. He did not feel like anything with any long life at any point.”
“Still, we’re here 21 years later.”
