February 2009 Newsletter
Zaytoun on February 4th, 2009Dear Zaytoun customers and supporters,
In this newsletter…
Fairtrade News
Palestinian Producer Profile
Stock clearance
Price Increase
Changes at Zaytoun
Events - Volunteers Needed
Featured Seller: Habibi Restaurant
New Shops/Distributors
Website: New ‘Events’ Page
Supporting Gaza
Exciting News - Fairtrade Certification and Fairtrade Fortnight
As of the 29th January 2009 Palestinian olive oil became the world’s first olive oil to be certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (www.fairtrade.net)! Zaytoun have been working towards this for the last five years and are absolutely delighted. The International Olive Oil Council cites that Palestine is the original home of the olive tree; it is very fitting that the land where olive cultivation began some 6000 years ago is also the first to bring us Fairtrade olive oil!
Our congratulations to the farmer coops in Palestine who have worked so hard for this and we hope this will open more market opportunities for their fantastic product.
Zaytoun are proud to announce that we will launch the first ever Fairtrade Certified product from Palestine during Fairtrade Fortnight 2009. Please see www.zaytoun.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/fairtradenews2.pdf for more information.
Three representatives of the olive oil sector in Palestine will be in the UK for Fairtrade Fortnight; which runs from February 23rd – March 8th. These include Taysir Arabasi Zaytoun’s Director based in Palestine and Nasser Abufarha, Director of Canaan Fair Trade in Palestine. A schedule of events can be found here: www.zaytoun.org/events/fairtrade-fortnight-events
Zaytoun are grateful to the support of The Funding Network (www.thefundingnetwork.org.uk) in launching the Fairtrade Palestinian Olive Oil.
Zaytoun has been getting lots of recognition in the media lately, with lots of new articles appearing on the web and in print. “The oil Zaytoun offers is about as ethically and environmentally sound as can be imagined.” writes Victoria Lambert in The Geographical www.zaytoun.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/geographical-article.pdf
With people recognising that Palestinian Olive Oil is produced using fair trade organic principles, more and more people are rushing to buy. Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament recently announced that Palestinian Olive Oil is a latest addition to the tables and restaurants of the European Parliament in Brussels and in Strasbourg. For more news and updates see www.zaytoun.org/journal
News from Palestine: Producer Profile
With the exciting news that Zaytoun is now launching a fairtrade certified range through our supplier Canaan, we visited producers in the Jenin area, to find out what this means for them. Click www.zaytoun.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/profile1.pdf for one farmer’s story.
Important Update: Stock clearance
Zaytoun still has some clearance stock left. For those customers concerned about ‘BBE’ dated stock – we’d like to stress that ‘best before’ relates to the optimum quality of the product and therefore the products are safe to consume. Please see www.foodstandards.gov.uk for more info.
Organic Olive Oil: Best Before End December 2008 50% off (the oil is fine for the coming months as it is sealed and stored well).
Medjoul Dates: BBE Feb 2009 30% off
These goods can be included in bulk orders or dispatched by the case.
Price Increase
Zaytoun imports are being affected by the £: Euro exchange rate, which has forced us to put into effect an immediate price increase on our wholesale price structure. So far we have only applied the increase to our olive oil. Please see our products page for updated prices www.zaytoun.org/products. For customers able to pay at the time of order we can offer a 5% discount.
Changes afoot…
Zaytoun is looking forward to having a new employee in place at the end of February, whilst existing members of the Zaytoun team will be going on maternity leave. To make this transition as smooth as possible we ask that all our customers/distributors please make sure they are putting their orders through via the Zaytoun main phone line 0845 345 4887 or the email address order@zaytoun.org
London Events – Volunteers Needed
Due to Israel’s brutal onslaught in Gaza, we’ve had a number of requests to attend Gaza fundraisers in London.
As well as encouraging you to tell others about these events, what we need are some volunteers to help set up and run the stalls. We’d arrange delivery of stock either to the venue or to your house, together with literature and info sheets. We see these events as a really important way to remind people that there are many ways to support the people of Palestine.
If you can volunteer for any of the events below please email contact@zaytoun.org with your contact details and we will get in touch with you.
1. Saturday 14th February & 2. Saturday 21st February: Children of Gaza – Charity dinners by Muslim Aid
3. Saturday 28th February: Diocese of Westminster at Holy Apostles Church, Pimlico. 7pm
Featured Seller: Habibi Restaurant
If you fancy authentic Arabic food with a real ‘taste of Palestine’, you may want to check out Habibi restaurant in Coventry which uses Zaytoun’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil in their dishes.
The restaurants Manal Timraz, a Palestinian living in Coventry, who has lost 15 members of her family in the military offensive in Gaza, has just launched the ‘Million Candles for Peace Campaign’ to remember all those suffering in Gaza. She is hoping that people will donate a million candles that she can take with her to show solidarity with the people of Gaza and to remind us all for the need to work for peace between all peoples. To find out more about Manal’s initiative and send messages of peace see www.habibirestaurant.co.uk
New Shops/Distributors
Zaytoun are pleased to report that over the last few months we have had many new distributors come on board to sell Zaytoun products across the UK and Ireland. If you’ve had problems finding a distributor near you in the past, keep an eye on our ‘sellers’ page to see if a new distributor has popped up near you www.zaytoun.org/sellers
Website: New ‘Events’ Page
Zaytoun has a new ‘events’ page www.zaytoun.org/events on our website which lists regular and one-off events, where our products are sold. If you would like us to include an event please email contact@zaytoun.org with the following details:
Name of event e.g. Monthly Brighton Farmers Market
Full address where event is held
When the event takes place e.g. Every Sunday at 1pm
Contact if relevant
Zatoun in Canada Support Zatoun in Gaza
At this difficult time for the people of Gaza, Zatoun in Canada have chosen to reach out to the ‘Zatoun’ community in Gaza to show solidarity. Its formal name is ‘Al-Zaytoun,’ and it is a very poor neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City. Not much is to be found about it on the Internet, other than it was the site of heavy bombardment and casualties including a report of 25 members from one family killed by a missile.
Zatoun has made a $2,500 contribution in aid of families living in the Zatoun neighbourhood of Gaza City and would like to encourage supporters to donate what they can. For more information please see www.zaytoun.org/general/message-from-zatoun-in-canada
Latest products and prices
For our latest products and prices see www.zaytoun.org/products
Thanks for your ongoing support,
ZAYTOUN CIC - fairly traded produce from Palestine
