Argan Oil

Linden Hills Co-op is pleased to offer Argan d’Or Argan oil to our members and shoppers. Recently featured in the New York Times Travel magazine, Argan oil from Morocco is exceptionally high in antioxidants and prized both for its food and cosmetic use.

ARGAND’OR is the only Argan oil available made entirely by hand in the most gentle way possible, resulting in the finest gourmand taste and quality.

European and Japanese food aficionados have fallen in love with this superb gourmet oil, hand-crafted by experienced artisans who produce the finest Argan oil. This oil, rich in essential fatty acids and tocopherols, is gently cold pressed using only traditional stone mills. Thus, the flavor components which produce the richness and fullness of ARGAND’OR’s taste as well as the nutrients such as the anti-oxidants and sterols remain intact. Due to the unparalleled quality and taste, ARGAND’OR Argan oil is the choice of great chefs.

In 2005, just weeks after introduction to the European market, ARGAND’OR Argan oil won the prestigious “Product of the Year Award” at BioFach, the world’s leading trade show for organic foods. In addition, ARGAND’OR Argan oil has recently received the “Superior Taste Award 2007” from the International Quality and Taste Institute.

The Argan nuts of ARGAND’OR Argan oil come from wild growing Argan trees, never treated with chemicals. Only selected kernels of the best quality are used for making our oil. Different to conventional Argan oils, artisan hand-pressed ARGAND’OR Argan oil is USDA organic certified. In addition, it is certified organic in accordance with the laws of the European Union and eligible to carry the “Bio-Siegel”, the German Government Organic Seal. The production of ARGAND’OR is fully transparent. Consumers are able to trace the production of their oil back to one of the twenty-two ARGAND’OR partner cooperatives.

ARGAND’OR Argan oil is produced by true artisans. Bucking the trend towards mechanical mass extraction of Argan oil, a group of Berber women of the UNESCO protected Arganeraie, the only region where Argan trees grow, formed cooperatives to jointly produce the oil entirely by hand. These twenty-two rural cooperatives, unified under the U.C.F.A. (Union des Cooperatives des Femmes de l’Arganeraie) enable women who have perfected the artisan hand-creation of Argan oil from generation to generation over centuries to use their craft to produce Argan oil of highest quality. The U.C.F.A. cooperatives are dedicated to keeping the ancestral art of hand-making this world heritage food in its entirety alive. Thus, these indigenous Berber women create a genuine Argan oil no machine can.