D&A Organic Beauty Cosmetics UG

The Moroccan gold of the Berbers – “My parents are both from Morocco and came to Germany as guest workers in the 1960s. As a wholesale and foreign trade merchant for a renowned German tile company, I was responsible for the Moroccan market for many years. That’s how I got to know the Berbers and their Moroccan gold, argan oil. The argan is the ‘tree of life’ for the Berber families. The wood of the plant, which can be up to 400 years old, serves them as building material. The leaves are fed to their animals and the argan oil is used by Berber women as food, remedy and cosmetic (used as skin oil, hair oil, nail oil). I quickly discovered, however, that this liquid treasure is available both in Morocco and in Germany almost exclusively in stretched form. My idea to produce 100% pure argan oil
was born!” Aziz Ouchen, Managing Director DA Moroccan Gold

We employ forty workers who produce pure argan oil from the almonds of the fruit in Morocco according to the traditional method of the Berber women. The argan fruit contains up to three hazelnut-sized seeds. Each of these seeds hides a small almond. From them, the argan oil is extracted. The argan fruits are picked up by hand by the Berbers after they fall ripe from the trees. Then they need to be dried for some time,
before the pericarp can be removed and the nut exposed. If you now break them open, you get the almond kernels of the argan fruit. These are now ground in stone mills and kneaded with water until the argan oil runs out. These centuries-old knowledge and practices were recognized by UNESCO in 2014 as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For one liter of pure argan oil, the Berber women have to harvest about 40 kg of fruit. This is equivalent to the amount of one argan tree.