Making Argan Oil in Morocco
Argan oil is one of Morocco’s most unique and popular products. to see a great video from Conde Nast Traveler on how it is made.
On the back roads of southwestern Morocco there’s not a lot happening. But just 15 to 20 minutes outside the coastal town of Essaouira, along the road to Marrakech, you can find not only unique souvenirs, but extremely authentic ones at Cooperative d’Argan Marjana. (Bonus points if you spot one of the many goats in trees along this road contentedly chomping on argan tree fruit.)
At the cooperative, more than 20 women work in a long rectangular room, each completing their part of the process of extracting argan oil from a fruit harvested in local orchards (the trees look similar to olive trees). I was interested to learn the popular Moroccan argan oil isn’t only used for beauty products. In fact, no part of the argan fruit is wasted: Pulp from inside the husks is fed to farm animals, and while the nut is either made into oils, soaps, and lotions for hair and skin, it’s also edible when roasted—and quite tasty.
There are a number of women’s co-ops in this part of the country, easily found along the roadside. They were formed independently by groups who decided to take their economic fate into their own hands. The co-ops have no single owner, and everyone has a say in the operations whether married, single, widowed, or divorced. The lovely young woman in my video tour here (who preferred not to have her face on camera) described the establishment of the co-ops as a way for women “to become independent from the men.” And as you can see, they are quite busy at work, and quite happy to show their skills.
I ended up with quite a stash of hair oil, face cream, and soaps for gifts back home.
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