Olive Oil Jordan

Some of the world's oldest olive trees grow in Jordan. They are believed to be more than 3,000 years old. This allows Jordan to offer premium and unique olive oil. European Union (EU) consumers are becoming more conscious about their health. This trend has increased the demand for high-quality extra virgin olive oil. 

In 2020, the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) started a project to help the Jordanian olive oil sector benefit from these developments. The project aims to establish a business-oriented, high-quality and sustainable value chain. It also focuses on creating an attractive country brand. 

Project goals

The Olive Oil Jordan project helps Jordanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) strengthen their position in the high-end segment of the EU olive oil market. 

The project focuses on 5 goals: 

1. Helping companies become more competitive in exporting extra virgin olive oil;
2. Helping companies contribute to their environment and communities, for example, via improved water access and labour conditions;
3. Improved sector collaboration, capacity and service delivery;
4. Developing Jordan's country olive oil brand;
5. More knowledge and gender equality in the sector. 

Partners       

During this project, CBI works with industry experts, sector companies, sector associations and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Agriculture. All partners work together to strengthen sector collaboration. The partners also aim to develop sustainable services to promote and improve the Jordanian olive oil sector. Partners include:

• Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture;
• National Agricultural Research Center (NARC);
• Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association (JOPEA);
• General Syndicate of Jordanian Olive Oil Mills Owners and Olive Producers;
• Mercy Corps; 
• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO);
• Embassy of the Netherlands in Jordan;
• International Labour Organisation (ILO). 

Activities

This project involves:

• Helping SMEs to develop export marketing plans; 
• Helping SMEs to showcase their products at trade fairs in Europe and participate in other networking events;
• Supporting sector stakeholders with the implementation of a sector export marketing plan;
• Supporting SMEs and sector stakeholders to develop a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and action plan; 
• Improving sector stakeholder collaboration on key themes through committees and the establishment of an Olive Oil Council. Key themes include: 
  • sustainability;
  • Jordanian olive oil brand management; and
  • export marketing.