Tunisian Olive Oil for the Swiss Market
The orientation tour of edible oil producers from Tunisia in Switzerland, which was organised by SIPPO Tunisia and two Tunisian BSOs at the beginning of June, was also commented on extensively and positively in the St. Galler Tagblatt (Switzerland).
Representatives of the Oleificio Sabo in Horn, Canton St. Gallen/Switzerland, had their say in an article about the edible oil industry. Because the Tunisian delegation also visited this production plant, Kaspar Enz reported on the visit and the high quality of Tunisian olive oil in the St. Galler Tagblatt of 24 June 2022 under the title "New olive oil for Switzerland". We reprint the article here.
"Olive oil is an excellent oil," says Lorenzo Centonze, CEO of Oleificio Sabo ((in Horn, Kanton St. Gallen). This has also been noticed north of the Alps, the native from the Swiss canton Tessin tells his Tunisian guests: "Mediterranean cuisine is becoming more and more popular in German-speaking Switzerland." In fact, olive oil consumption in Switzerland has been increasing for years. In 2021, it rose from just over 10 per cent to 12.6 per cent of total vegetable oil consumption. At first glance, that doesn't seem like much. But it also includes refined oils, mostly from rapeseed or sunflower, which are needed by the food and cosmetics industries.
In the retail trade, however, olive oil is one of the top sellers. This opens up opportunities for new suppliers. At the invitation of the Swiss import promotion programme SIPPO, a Tunisian delegation therefore visited Switzerland. "We have already visited various retailers to find out how the market works in Switzerland," says Hichem Neji of Tunisia Export. And the tour also took the delegation to Horn, to the Oleficio Sabo factory.
Mild and fruity olive oil
The fact that they found open doors here is no coincidence. Sabo already sells Tunisian olive oil. More and more of it. Over 290’000 bottles were sold in 2021, and this year the figures are likely to be exceeded. Tunisian extra virgin olive oil is of good quality, says Centonze. "It is mild and fruity," he says. "It's exactly what Swiss consumers want."
Important producer
Hichem Neji is also pleased. "We are the second largest olive oil producer in the world. There are over a million olive trees in Tunisia, and the producers have invested a lot in quality in recent years." A lot is already exported in the Mediterranean region, but also overseas. "But we would be happy to export more to Switzerland as well." So the discussion soon turns to details: bottle formats and container sizes, shelf-life rules and chemical compositions.
The full article (in German) can be read here: