TUNIS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Noemen Daoudi, a Tunisian olive oil expert, put on his disinfectant uniform before entering the olive oil production plant as usual. Then he checked each production line to ensure that the process met strict specifications.
This olive oil production plant, located in Monastir province, about 165 kilometers away from capital Tunis, has a storage capacity of 5,000 tons with its 200 hectares of olive plantations, with a history of over 100 years old.
Noemen works as a quality-control director here. Organic olive oil brands now dominate this oil refinery, with over 90% of its products exported to European, Asian and American markets.
"Our company covers a complete industrial chain for olive oil," Noemen told Xinhua, "We begin with olive cultivation, then screening, squeezing, testing, filtration, storage, packaging...Each process has strict standards for organic olive oil."
Tunisia, as the world's second largest olive oil producer and exporter, has more than 80 million olive trees across the country, with the annual olive oil output of nearly 300,000 tons, 90% of which was exported abroad.
As the olive in Tunisia grows under the mild climate in south coast of Mediterranean, it develops in good quality and its oil is also well received by the market.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Samia Maamar, the director of organic agriculture department under Tunisia Ministry of Agriculture, said the total production of organic olive oil in Tunisia in 2017 exceeded 30,000 tons, accounting for approximately 10% of the total production.
"There is a great global market demand for organic olive oil," said Samia, "Tunisia is aiming at this high-end market, seeking to enhance its competitiveness."
Samia pointed out the biggest advantage of Tunisia olive oil is its complete and mature industrial chain. "From breeding to planting and producing, there are professional divisions in each part," said Samia.
A nursery, about 30 kilometers southwest away from capital Tunis, was run by Moez Ben Guirat and his relatives. Covering nearly 200 hectares, this nursery produces more than 10 million seedlings annually, half of which are olive seedlings.
"There are more than 30 varieties of olive saplings in our nursery, with 80% meeting the domestic market needs," said Moez, "It's one of the largest olive tree nurseries in Africa."
In one greenhouse, Moez was introducing the saplings to Karim Fitouri, an olive oil producer who just made a reservation.
Karim, 45 years old, once a Tunisian mechanical engineer in international company, had lived in London for 24 years, but now is an olive oil producer.
"I chose to come back to my country, because I want Tunisian olive oil to gain its right place in the world market," said Karim.
Karim told Xinhua that despite the large volume and high quality of Tunisian olive oil, its brand's reputation is far inferior to that of Spain or Italy.
"Our international competitiveness is limited, failed to obtain more consumers' recognition," said Karim, "Some European manufacturers even directly import olive oil from Tunisia for re-branded sales."
Karim has been qualified as an olive oil taster, after 4 years' study in olive oil production techniques. "It's my dream to establish an international brand of Tunisian organic olive oil," he stressed.
One organic olive oil brand developed by Karim, won the highest prize among over 50 worldwide products, in the 2018 International Olive Oil Contest held in the United States in January.
"This is the first time for Tunisian olive oil to win such honor," Karim described this win as "olive oil revolution."
Karim chose to outsource multiple links to specialized suppliers, and only controlled the key technical parts of press production. "Specialized division in modern production not only reduces costs, but also ensures products' quality," explained Karim.
A new olive oil training center will be located in Utica town in northern suburbs of capital Tunis, overlooking a stretch of olive groves on the hillside.
"In the 11th century BC, the Phoenicians came here from the east coast of Mediterranean, and successfully introduced olive trees to Tunisia," Karim said, "It's the origin of Tunisia olive trees here and that's why I choose this place to set up a new training center."
Besides demonstrating olive oil's production process and thousands of years of history, Karim also planned to cooperate with several universities to set up internships, to increase public awareness of Tunisia olive oil.
Regarding Chinese market, Karim has great expectation for "his products to enter this huge market."
"More and more Chinese consumers begin to choose olive oil for health," Karim said, "I believe Chinese market has great potential for consuming olive oil."
