Sustainable Practices Help North African Producers Triumph in Tough Season

Summary

Producers in North Africa faced chal­lenges in olive oil pro­duc­tion due to labor short­ages, high tem­per­a­tures, and insuf­fi­cient rain­fall, but Tunisian, Moroccan, and Egyptian pro­duc­ers show­cased resilience and adap­ta­tion at the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition. Despite these chal­lenges, high-qual­ity olive oil from Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt received recog­ni­tion and awards, high­light­ing the impor­tance of sus­tain­able prac­tices and cli­mate adap­ta­tion in olive oil pro­duc­tion.

The chal­leng­ing con­di­tions of the past olive sea­son in vast areas of North Africa impacted the pro­duc­tion of high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oil.

Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian pro­duc­ers show­cased the results of their resilience and adap­ta­tion to labor short­ages, high tem­per­a­tures and insuf­fi­cient rain­fall at the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

Considering the low har­vest of the pre­vi­ous sea­son, Tunisian olive oil pro­duc­tion rebounded in the 2024/25 crop year.

Local insti­tu­tions antic­i­pate that by the end of the sea­son, the coun­try will export up to 300,000 tons of olive oil, most of which is shipped in bulk, with a sig­nif­i­cant share des­tined for the European Union. 

However, Tunisian pro­duc­ers show­cased that the coun­try is also home to award-win­ning qual­ity, earn­ing 12 awards from 18 entries at the 2025 NYIOOC.

Producers in neigh­bor­ing Morocco and Egypt also had to cope with com­plex con­di­tions, pri­mar­ily due to the impact of reduced rain­fall.

Two Moroccan pro­duc­ers com­bined to win a Gold and Silver Award at the 2025 NYIOOC, with Egyptian pro­ducer Wadi Food earn­ing two Silver Awards. 

“Our olive sea­son in Tunisia is truly at the mercy of cli­mate change these days,” said Naouel Bouabid, owner at Massiva, which earned three Silver Awards for its flag­ship Damya line of olive oil. ​“We’re see­ing more and more unpre­dictable weather.”

Bouabid cited the out-of-sea­son heat­waves and erratic rain­fall as exam­ples. ​“All of this makes farm­ing a con­tin­u­ous effort of adap­ta­tion,” she noted. ​“Adding to that, the prickly pears – vital for our bio­di­ver­sity and even olive oil qual­ity – are under severe attack.” 

“The cochineal insect has caused dam­age, cost­ing us a huge part of our nat­ural her­itage,” Bouabid added. ​“Thankfully, the gov­ern­ment and inter­na­tional part­ners are actively seek­ing solu­tions.”

In Tunisia, prickly pears sup­port olive farm­ing by sta­bi­liz­ing soil, con­serv­ing water and serv­ing as wind­breaks. 

Their resilience in arid cli­mates reduces ero­sion and wild­fire risk. By diver­si­fy­ing income and enhanc­ing bio­di­ver­sity, they help cre­ate a more sus­tain­able, cli­mate-adap­tive envi­ron­ment for high-qual­ity olive oil pro­duc­tion.

Despite these chal­lenges, Bouabid said that the unique ter­roir, har­vest­ing approach, and prac­tices as well as the milling tech­nolo­gies, con­tributed to Massiva’s tri­umph in New York.

“We also main­tain metic­u­lous atten­tion to detail in the cul­ti­va­tion of our olive trees, employ­ing sus­tain­able prac­tices to ensure their health and longevity,” she added.

According to Bouabid, ​“win­ning an award at a pres­ti­gious com­pe­ti­tion like NYIOOC is an incred­i­ble feel­ing.”

“It’s a pow­er­ful val­i­da­tion of all the hard work, ded­i­ca­tion, and pas­sion we pour into every step of the olive oil mak­ing process, from nur­tur­ing the trees to the care­ful extrac­tion and stor­age. It’s a moment of immense pride for our entire team,” she said.

Winning in New York is also rel­e­vant for the com­pany as it focuses on exports to the United States.

“Effectively mar­ket­ing our unique, high-qual­ity Tunisian olive oil in the U.S. is a major chal­lenge,” Bouabid said. ​“We com­pete with larger, estab­lished global brands with greater mar­ket­ing power, requir­ing sig­nif­i­cant effort and invest­ment in brand­ing, ori­gin and nation­wide out­reach.”

Other high-end pro­duc­ers in the coun­try agree with Bouabid, as many chal­lenges had to be faced.

“We had a pack of chal­lenges, rang­ing from work­ers’ avail­abil­ity and man­age­ment to a very hot weather dur­ing sum­mer,” said Ahmed Hamza, co-founder and man­ag­ing direc­tor of Olyfo. ​“In some days it exceeded 48 ºC.” 

Olyfo won a Silver Award at the World Competition for its 2500 Years of Tradition brand, a medium-inten­sity blend of Koroneiki, Arbequina, Arbosana and Chemlali olives.

According to Hamza, win­ning in New York fills him with pride and sat­is­fac­tion. ​“It feels like our work is appre­ci­ated; it is an impor­tant recog­ni­tion of the qual­ity of the extra vir­gin olive oil we are sell­ing to the world,” he noted.

In Morocco, the per­sis­tent drought and water scarcity have impacted the country’s pro­duc­tion. Both high-end pro­duc­ers and other farms expe­ri­enced chal­lenges.

“We expe­ri­enced a reduced har­vest due to adverse weather con­di­tions. The lack of rain in

Morocco was a dis­as­ter,” said Mohammed Dakir Berrada, founder and owner of Noor Fès in Morocco, and Ghizlane Tazi, gen­eral man­ager of the com­pany.

Noor Fès earned a Gold Award at the 2025 NYIOOC with its mono­va­ri­etal Moroccan Picholine.

“Climate change is now a global issue, and it is increas­ingly affect­ing olive pro­duc­tion,” they said. ​“Climate change is reshap­ing our envi­ron­ment, but it also pushes us to do bet­ter.”

“Our olive oil, pro­duced with regen­er­a­tive and bio­di­verse sys­tems, not only tastes bet­ter and offers more nutri­tional ben­e­fits, but it’s also part of a sus­tain­able future,” Berrada and Tazi added.

The two noted that the award won by the com­pany is the result of sev­eral sus­tain­able prac­tices, tech­nolo­gies and inno­v­a­tive pro­ce­dures.

“This is our fifth con­sec­u­tive award, which rein­forces the con­sis­tency and excel­lence of our qual­ity year after year,” Barrada and Tazi said.

“Furthermore, we are very com­mit­ted to the U.S. mar­ket, which is a top pri­or­ity for us,” they added. ​“Winning an award at the NYIOOC is help­ful as it reas­sures U.S. con­sumers,”