Sustainable valorization of olive pomace for an SME specialized in vegetable oils.

Huilerie Haj Ali is a Moroccan SME located in the region of Ouazzane. As part of the agri-food value chain.  The company is involved in the manufacturing and commercialization of olive oil and pomace. Huilerie Haj Ali produces virgin and extra virgin olive oil which are obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.

The company aims to enter the European market and build its own brand to export extra virgin olive oil. Thus, the company has invested in a new biphasic olive crushing unit to increase its competitiveness in a highly competitive market with a nominal capacity of 120 tons/day. The company has invested in a crushing unit specially designed to replace an old discontinuous press extraction unit. This new unit is equipped with a new decanter with two-phase centrifugation (oil and pomace) and contrary to the old process, this decanter does not require any addition of water for the separation between the oil phase and the solid phase.

This new investment benefiting from the technical assistance and financing provided by Green Value Chain has helped create direct permanent jobs and allowed the company to further improve its competitiveness and penetrate new market while minimizing its electric energy consumption by 62 MWh/year and greenhouse gas emissions by 35,2 TCO2/year and reduce the liquid discharges volume by nearly 2,200,000 liters/year compared to the old line.

Green Value Chain (GVC) in Morocco is a credit facility of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to provide funding to local partner financial institutions for on-lending to Moroccan SMEs belonging to agribusiness, processing industries and logistics value chains and ecosystems. Supported by the European Union, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Korean Technical Assistance and Cooperation Account (KTACA) and the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (EBRD SSF), the facility aims to improve competitiveness of SMEs and that of their value chains and ecosystems through highly efficient green investments.