Only a few Americans have ever heard of it – the Argan tree, a mysterious ancient survivor,almost extinct and protected by UNESCO, native only to the Arganeraie, a small region in the North African Maghreb. This extraordinary relic of pre-human tertiary times bears fruit which produces a most delectable, valuable and healthy food - precious Argan Oil, thefinest plant oil our planet has to offer.Argan oil is unknown and rare – so rare, that it takes a tremendous effort to find a store in America that carries this delicious ingredient. Allegedly, innovative gourmet chefs who love to use this oil in their kitchens have been crossing the Atlantic in their quest to find Argan oil of highest quality at the source: in the rural villages at the edge of the Sahara desert.
Stefan Hauke, a German food enthusiast who has been working with organic foods, and his American wife Margaret, who shares his interest in artisan and heirloom delicacies, heard about this mysterious oil some years back on a trip to Morocco. Out of season, they were not able to find Argan oil, neither in the markets of Casablanca nor in the souks of Marrakech. The couple left Morocco without having had the opportunity to try this mysterious treat.
Destiny struck last year. Stefan received a call from Argand'Or, a German company that imports hand-crafted gourmet quality Argan oil. The delicacy was introduced to Europeans in 2005 and to Japan in 2006 - it was an immediate success with gourmands and foodies alike. Only weeks appearing on the shelves of European grocery stores, Argand'Or Argan oil won the prestigious “Product of the Year” Award at BioFach, the world's leading organic food show held annually in Nuremberg, Germany. Now, Mohamed El Karz, the Moroccan civil engineer and founder of Argand'Or and his German partners were seeking help to bring this treasure to America, where food enthusiasts have had no access to hand-crafted Argan oil at all.
Margaret and Stefan where fascinated by this product and the story behind it. Not only is Argand’Or Argan oil a delectable gourmet oil with a wide variety of uses in an innovative cuisine, but also a health food with more than twice the level of the anti-oxidant tocopherol than olive oil and a unique combination of cholesterol fighting sterols. But the fascination does not end there. Mohamed has partnered with Berber Women Cooperatives in the rural villages of the Arganeraie. This group of courageous women decided to buckthe trend towards industrial extraction of Argan oil and keep the Artisan way of producing this liquid gold alive. Rather than using mechanical presses, these cooperatives decided to continue to produce high quality Argan oil entirely by hand. They collect the argan fruit in the wild Argan groves by hand, remove the shells of the Argan nut by hand using stone tools, roast the Argan kernels over open fire and extract the oil by hand using traditional stone mills. Mohamed and his German partners helped the women cooperatives to establish a stringent quality control regime guaranteeing that only Argan oil of highest quality is shipped to the German bottling facility. Multiple testing and quality control guarantees that every bottle of Argand’Or Argan oil meets the highest quality standards and delivers an unrivaled divine taste. As a matter of fact, Argand'Or Argan oil is the only gourmet Argan oil that is certified USDA organic.
Keeping the artisan production of Argan oil alive does not only result in a product of superior quality, but also provides badly needed employment for Berber women in Morocco’s rural areas, jobs that would be lost to mechanical presses otherwise. Argand'Or secures employment of more than 1,000 members in 22 self-governed Berber Women Cooperatives who control the full production process of Argan oil from harvest to oil extraction. Argand''Or is paying the cooperatives fair trade prices well above market levels.
It did not take long for Margaret and Stefan to understand what American epicureans and aficionados of healthy natural foods were missing out. They decided to make this world heritage food available to American consumers. The couple established the World Artisan Guild, a company created for the sole purpose of importing Argand'Or Argan oil to America. In May, the World Artisan Guild introduced the product to the American public at the All Things Organic Food Show in Chicago. Argand’Or Argan oil generated plenty of interest amongst retailers and professional chefs and will be available in specialty and natural food stores around the country as well as online in the WorldArtisanGuild.com webstore.
Argand'Or Argan oil is not only the sole hand-crafted and certified 100% USDA organic Argan oil available in the United States, but also fully traceable from bottle to the source. Argand'Or Argan oil is pure, extra virgin and cold pressed and does not contain any additives. The retail price of a 8.5 fl. oz. bottle of hand-crafted Argand’Or Argan oil is around $50.
Contact:
Stefan Hauke
World Artisan Guild LLC
Direct Line: (414) 431-8652
stefan@worldartisanguild.com
