São Paulo – One of the most traditional Moroccan olive oil producers, Atlas Olive Oils, wants to start exporting to Brazil. Company representatives are in São Paulo after a distributor. "We chose Brazil because it is the main market in Latin America and there is strong Arab and Spanish immigration. These immigrants consume large volumes of olive oil," said the administrative director at the company, Othmane Aqallal, who visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday (2).
Atlas Olive Oils already exports to Japan, the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and the countries of the Arabian Gulf. According to company manager Amine Chraibi, the differential of extra-virgin olive oil is in the level of acidity of the product, which ranges from 0.1% to 0.2%. One of its characteristics is that it is cultivated in the desert, in a sustainable way, with water from the Atlas mountains.
The three company farms, which correspond to an area of 600 hectares of olive trees, have a capacity for production of one million litres of olive oil a year. Of this total, 75% is turned to exports and the remains is turned to the best and most luxurious hotels in Morocco, like La Mamounia, in Marrakech.
The idea of representatives is also to operate in this more refined sector in Brazil, as Atlas extra virgin olive oil is one of the purest products in existence. According to them, establishing a company in São Paulo to sell directly to specialized shops and restaurants is also in the company plans.
Apart from São Paulo, Aqallal and Chraibi are going to travel to Rio de Janeiro. "We have several meetings scheduled with distributors there," said the administrative director, who contacted organisations with the assistance of the Foreign Trade department at the Arab Brazilian Chamber. According to the manager, Atlas Olive Oils, initially wants to concentrate the promotion of the olive oil in the southern and southeastern Brazilian states.
The company, which is responsible for the process from the plantation of olive trees to the bottling of olive oil, has two products: Desert Miracle, with 0.1% acidity, and Les Terroirs de Marrakech, with 0.2%.
Over 120 years
The history of Atlas Olive Oils began in 1887, with the Aqallal family. The tradition in cultivation of the olive trees was transferred from father to son and is currently in the 5th generation. Over the last 100 years, the company has won several awards, like the Great Taste Awards, in London; the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the Leone D’Oro, in Milan, and the Oil China, in Shanghai, among others.
With over 100 farm hands, Atlas operates with an advanced irrigation system that makes possible greater economy of water. Concerned with waste, the company has built a dam with a capacity for storage of 46,000 cubic metres of water. Considering sustainable development, the company established Agro Health, which helps the farm hands to improve and conserve the cultivation of olive trees.
Contact
Atlas Olive Oils
Site: www.atlasoliveoils.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
