Zaytoun: Ethically-sourced Palestinian artisan food products
Zaytoun is a Community Interest Company, a social enterprise founded to support Palestinian farmers through fair trade.
WORDS FROM ZAYTOUN:
Zaytoun is the leading UK brand of ethically-sourced Palestinian artisan food products. Our aim is to create and develop a UK market for artisanal Palestinian produce.
ABOUT US
Our aim is to delight our customers with premium quality products that are fairly traded, organically grown and sourced from small-scale farmers while supporting farming communities through trade rather than aid.
Zaytoun is proud to be a resident in the central London premises of The Arab British Centre.
The Arab British Centre is an award-winning, independent, non-political, non-religious UK charity which works to improve the British public’s understanding of the Arab world by organising and promoting cultural and artistic events relating to the Arab world, and hosting a regular programme of activities including Arabic calligraphy classes and Arabic language classes. Since it was founded in 1977, the centre has housed and subsidised other like-minded organisations involved in Arab-British relations in its central London premises.
OUR STORY
Zaytoun was founded in 2004 to support the resilience and livelihoods of Palestinian farmers under occupation through fairly trading their olive oil. Initially funded by hundreds of customers who put up payment in advance of receiving their oil, Zaytoun quickly established itself as a UK social enterprise. With funding from Triodos Bank the company developed to offer a wide range of Palestinian artisan foods, and supported Palestinian farmers to pioneer the world’s first Fairtrade certified olive oil in 2009, sold through the UK market.
The range continues to grow, and is now available nationwide through wholesalers, independent shops, online, in Oxfam and of course through our very active network of volunteer distributors. We run two trips a year for customers to visit Palestine and learn more about life for a farming family there, and bring producers to the UK once a year for Fairtrade Fortnight.
Celebrating our 15th anniversary this year, we remain a successful Community Interest Company supporting the relationship between Palestinian producer communities and a growing network of passionate, discerning customers in the UK and Ireland.
WHAT YOU CAN FIND AT ZAYTOUN: CHRISTMAS GIFTS, MEJDOUL DATES, ROASTED CHILLI ALMONDS, CARAMELISED ALMONDS, TREE PLANTING AND A GIFT OF OLIVE OIL, RAW ALMONDS, ZA’ATAR, COUS COUS MAFTOUL, GREEN WHEAT FREEKEH AND ZAYTOUN COLLECTION.