LONDON: A Palestinian food company says it believes a 50 percent increase in sales in the UK is due to customers showing solidarity with people in the West Bank and Gaza.
Zaytoun had revenues of £3.2 million ($4.289 million) in 2024, driven by sales of its extra virgin olive oil and medjool dates, as well as almonds and giant couscous.
Meaning olive in Arabic, Zaytoun is a fair trade enterprise looking to help Palestinian agricultural communities.
It launched in 2004 and sales have steadily risen, with 500 milliliter bottles of its oil selling for around £15 in the UK.
Manal Ramadan White, Zaytoun’s managing director, told The Guardian that the sales show people “wanting to make a difference with their purchasing power.”
She added: “From 2023 to 2024 we grew by about 50 percent due to the UK market wanting to show support in some way.”
Ramadan White said questions had dogged Zaytoun about the expense of the product from the outset required to give Palestinian farmers a fair income.
“The products are really expensive to buy, so there’s not much profit margin,” she said. “Yet 21 years later, here we are.”
The Fairtrade Foundation ensures that producers receive proper remuneration and an additional premium on their goods. In the UK last year, £28 million were generated in sales for the Fairtrade premium alone.
Zaytoun, however, has been unable to carry the Fairtrade logo on its products for over a year due to the security situation in the region preventing official checks from taking place.
“We haven’t been able to get Fairtrade organic certified olive oil out of Palestine for almost a year now,” said Ramadan White. “The certifier pulled out at very short notice and without a handover.”
Zaytoun has not changed its suppliers, working with the same producers across the West Bank, and says it hopes to have auditors certify its products by the time of the next harvest.
“The landscape is dotted with olive trees … Most families have some whether it’s 20 or thousands,” said Ramadan White.
“The hardiness of the olive tree, what it can withstand, is very much symbolic to Palestinians. It’s a metaphor for their resilience and hardiness through all these challenging times.”
As well as certification, the war in Gaza has made transportation of goods difficult, with extra security — including checkpoints and sniffer dog inspections — hampering exports through the Israeli port of Haifa.
In a statement, Fairtrade said it would “raise our voices in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank whose futures are being deliberately dismantled.”
The foundation’s CEO Eleanor Harrison said: “We believe that every person has the right to live and work in safety and determine their own future.”
She added: “We stand for fairness, solidarity, and the empowerment of people to decide on their own futures. We cannot remain silent while the foundations of life are being destroyed.”
