Zaytoun Olive Oil: What's in the Bottle, and Who Made It
Zaytoun olive oil turns up in wholefood shops, in independent grocers and on kitchen tables where the buyer knows the name but not much else about the company behind it. It is worth knowing, because Zaytoun is an unusual sort of business: a UK community interest company rather than an ordinary limited company, selling Palestinian extra virgin olive oil on fair-trade terms. There is also a live practical question — a number of bottles on shelves right now carry neither the Fairtrade nor the Soil Association organic mark, and Zaytoun has published an explanation for why. This article sets out what the oil is, what the certifications cover, and what the company states on its own site.
For our own oil, see our cold-pressed organic Marrakech olive oil.
The Short Answer
- Zaytoun is a registered UK community interest company — Zaytoun CIC, company number 05078436 — trading from zaytoun.uk. It states that 100% of its profits are reinvested into the business and its work, and it is certified by Social Enterprise UK.
- The product is extra virgin olive oil, described by Zaytoun as first cold pressed, from rain-fed, hand-picked olives grown by small-scale farming families in the West Bank. It is sold in 250ml, 500ml, 750ml, 1 litre and 5 litre formats.
- The farmers are members of the Palestine Fair Trade Association, and Zaytoun names Canaan Palestine as the supplier where the olives are pressed. A fair-trade supply chain with named farmer organisations is a real, verifiable strength, and one we do not match.
- The oil has historically held both Fairtrade certification and Soil Association organic certification. Both are currently unavailable on new stock. Zaytoun states that the organic certifying body withdrew from Palestine earlier in 2025 citing security concerns and without a handover, that a replacement certifier is now in place, and that the transition has required a lengthy induction.
- Zaytoun says the uncertified bottles are the same oil from the same farmer partners, and that it made the switch to keep trade flowing to producers rather than pause supply.
- What Zaytoun does not publish is chemistry: there is no free acidity figure, no peroxide value and no polyphenol content on the site. Nor is a cultivar named on the product page. We do not publish a polyphenol figure for our own oil either, and say so below.
- The word zaytoun is simply the Arabic for olive — the same root behind the tree's name across the region.
What Zaytoun Actually Is
Zaytoun CIC is a community interest company registered in the United Kingdom under company number 05078436. A CIC is a specific legal form, not a marketing label: it is a limited company that exists to serve a stated community purpose, and it carries an asset lock restricting how its assets and profits can be distributed. That is what distinguishes it from an ordinary trading company with a social mission statement.
Zaytoun states that 100% of its profits are reinvested back into the business and its work, and that it has supported tree-planting and community projects since 2004. Its footer carries certifications and memberships from the Fairtrade Foundation, Social Enterprise UK, the Soil Association and Co-operatives UK.
Commercially, it is a small importer and wholesaler rather than a producer. It buys from Palestinian farming families, brings the finished oil to the UK, and sells it through its own site, through independent retailers and wholefood shops, and through community distributors. It runs a stockist finder for exactly that reason: much of its distribution is not in supermarkets.
The Oil Itself: Rain-Fed, Hand-Picked, First Cold Pressed
Zaytoun's description of the oil is specific enough to be checked, which is more than many importers offer.
| Attribute | What Zaytoun states |
|---|---|
| Grade | Extra virgin olive oil |
| Extraction | First cold pressed — extracted without heat |
| Growing | Rain-fed groves, no irrigation; hand-tended, not managed with industrial inputs |
| Harvest | Hand-picked each autumn; nets spread beneath the trees, olives brought down by hand or with rakes |
| Region | Groves across the West Bank, particularly the hills around Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin |
| Producers | Small-scale farming families who are members of the Palestine Fair Trade Association; pressed at supplier Canaan Palestine |
| Ingredients | Organic olives |
| Sizes | 250ml, 500ml, 750ml, 1 litre and 5 litres |
| Flavour | Warm and peppery, with green, grassy notes and a full mouthfeel |
| Storage | Cool, dark cupboard; not refrigerated; best used within 12 months of opening, with the peppery character softening as the oil ages |
Two of those rows are worth pausing on. Hand-picking onto nets rather than mechanical harvesting reduces bruising, and bruised fruit is one of the commonest reasons an oil fails the extra virgin grade. And “first cold pressed” is a real processing description rather than a flourish — we explain what it does and does not guarantee in our piece on what cold-pressed actually means.
Zaytoun does not name a cultivar on its product page. The varieties grown in the region — Nabali Baladi, Nabali Muhasan and Souri among them — are covered in our separate article on Palestinian olive oil, which goes into the terroir and the varietal character in far more depth than we will repeat here.
The Certifications, and Why Some Bottles Currently Carry Neither Mark
This is the question a lot of people arrive with, so here is the direct answer. If you have bought a Zaytoun bottle recently and noticed the Fairtrade and organic logos are missing, nothing about the oil's sourcing has changed. The certification has lapsed, temporarily, and Zaytoun has published why.
In a company update posted in July 2025, Zaytoun states that the organic certifying body withdrew from Palestine earlier that year, citing security concerns, and did so without a proper handover. A new certifier is now in place, but the transition required a lengthy induction process. Rather than pause supply, Zaytoun says it chose to keep selling the same oil from the same farmer partners in 250ml, 500ml, 750ml and 5 litre formats, temporarily without the organic and Fairtrade marks, so that trade — and payment — kept flowing to the producers and processors. It notes that its suppliers have maintained their standards throughout but lost certified sales as a result, and that it expected certified stock to return.
| Mark | What it covers | Zaytoun's stated position |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade | Audited fair pricing and terms with certified producer organisations | Historically held; certified stock temporarily unavailable during the certifier transition |
| Soil Association organic | Audited organic production standards | Historically held; same temporary lapse. Zaytoun states farming practices remain unchanged |
| Social Enterprise UK | Certifies the business as a social enterprise, not the product | Certified |
| Great Taste | A blind-tasted food award judged on a submitted sample | Award-winning; the product page lists a Great Taste Award for 2026, and the company's FAQ records a Great Taste star awarded in 2022 |
The honest reading is that a certificate is a piece of third-party assurance, and when it is absent you are relying on the seller's own account instead. Zaytoun has given a detailed, dated, checkable account rather than quietly dropping the logos, which is the right way to handle it. It is still worth knowing which of the two you are buying on.
What Zaytoun Publishes, and What It Doesn't
The most useful exercise with any producer or importer is to separate what is stated from what is assumed. We have put our own oil in the same table, on the same terms.
| Detail | Zaytoun | Sidr & Stone |
|---|---|---|
| Named growing region | Yes — West Bank groves, hills around Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin | Yes — single estate on the plains outside Marrakech |
| Named producer organisation | Yes — Palestine Fair Trade Association members; pressed at Canaan Palestine | One family-owned grove; the family is not named publicly |
| Cultivar named | Not on the product page | Not currently published |
| Harvest method | Yes — hand-picked onto nets each autumn | Yes — single hand harvest, timed to the season |
| Irrigation | Rain-fed, stated | Rain-fed, stated |
| Free acidity figure | No | No |
| Peroxide value | No | No |
| Polyphenol content | No | No |
| Fair-trade certification | Yes, historically; temporarily lapsed | No |
| Organic certification | Yes, historically; temporarily lapsed | No — organically grown, not certified |
| Halal certification | Not published | Yes |
| Filtration stated | Not stated | Yes — unfiltered |
| Bottle sizes | 250ml to 5 litres | 500ml |
Zaytoun wins two of those rows outright when its certification is in place, and they are not small ones. Fairtrade certification and Soil Association organic certification are formal, audited, third-party commitments. We hold neither. If those are what you are buying on, Zaytoun is the better bottle for you and we will say so plainly.
How to Buy Zaytoun Olive Oil Well
A few practical points, most of which apply to any extra virgin oil and are set out more fully in our guide to choosing a quality olive oil.
Check the marks on the bottle in front of you rather than the marks on the website photograph, since the two may currently differ. Buy the size you will actually get through: olive oil is a fresh product, and Zaytoun's own advice is to use an opened bottle within twelve months. The 5 litre format is genuinely for catering or households that cook with oil daily — a tin that size will oxidise long before a light user finishes it. Store it in a cupboard rather than beside the hob, and do not refrigerate it.
If the peppery, grassy character is what you want, buy the most recent stock you can find. That pungency comes largely from polyphenols and it softens as an oil ages, which Zaytoun states plainly on its own FAQ.
Three Questions Worth Asking
“Am I buying good oil, or buying the story?” A fair question to ask of any brand with a mission attached, ours included. On the oil itself, the checkable evidence is a Great Taste award and a consistent description of hand-picking, rain-fed groves and cold pressing. What is not available is a laboratory panel — no acidity, peroxide or polyphenol figures are published. So the honest answer is that the process evidence is good and the chemical evidence is absent, which is true of most olive oil sold in Britain, including ours.
“Is a community interest company just branding?” No. A CIC is a registered legal form with an asset lock, and Zaytoun's registration number is public. Whether a given CIC is well run is a separate question from whether the structure is real, and the structure is real.
“Should I wait for the certified bottles to come back?” That depends on what the certificate is doing for you. If you need the audit — because you are buying for a business, or because third-party verification is the whole point — then yes, wait for it. If you are buying on the strength of Zaytoun's published account of its supply chain, the company's position is that the oil and the farmer partners are unchanged. Both are defensible positions; they are just different ones.
Why Sidr & Stone
We want to be careful here, because it would be easy and cheap to turn a certification gap at another company into a sales argument, and we are not going to. Zaytoun's fair-trade supply chain, with named producer organisations and an audited certification it has held for years, is a genuine strength. If that is what you are buying, buy theirs.
What we can do is describe our own oil accurately, so you can tell the two apart on the facts.
- Single-estate — one family-owned grove on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco; no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed — no irrigation; the trees take what the season gives them.
- Organically grown — no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. We hold no organic certificate and do not claim one.
- Single harvest — a small, limited batch, picked only when the season says the fruit is ready, sometimes weeks later than neighbouring farms.
- Cold-pressed within hours of harvest — flavour, aroma and polyphenols preserved.
- Unfiltered extra virgin — minimally processed, and it may show natural sediment, which is normal; we cover why in our piece on unfiltered versus filtered olive oil.
- 100% natural — a single ingredient, olive oil, nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label — protective packaging against light.
- Halal certified.
- 10% of profits to charity — a brand-wide commitment that applies to every product we sell.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
We do not publish a polyphenol figure, a free acidity result or a peroxide value, and we will not imply one exists. When we have an independent panel, we will publish it in full. Until then, what we will say is that our oil is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed within hours of harvest — and that the case for buying from one grove rather than a blend is set out in our article on single-estate olive oil. Olive oil itself is honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah, which we write about separately in olive oil in the Quran and Sunnah.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Zaytoun olive oil?
It is extra virgin olive oil imported and sold by Zaytoun CIC, a UK community interest company (number 05078436). Zaytoun describes it as first cold pressed, from rain-fed, hand-picked olives grown by small-scale farming families in the West Bank.
Is Zaytoun olive oil fair trade certified?
It has historically held Fairtrade certification alongside Soil Association organic certification. Zaytoun states that certified stock is temporarily unavailable while a change of certifying body is worked through, and that the oil continues to come from the same farmer partners in the meantime.
Why doesn't my bottle carry the organic or Fairtrade logo?
Because of that certifier transition. Zaytoun's published update states that the organic certifying body withdrew from Palestine earlier in 2025 citing security concerns and without a proper handover, that a new certifier is now in place, and that the induction process has taken time. It chose to keep selling uncertified bottles of the same oil rather than pause supply to its producers.
What does Zaytoun olive oil taste like?
Zaytoun describes it as warm and peppery with green, grassy notes and a full, rounded mouthfeel — bolder than supermarket oils blended for a milder profile. It notes that the pepperiness softens as the oil ages, so fresher stock will taste more assertive.
Who grows the olives?
Small-scale Palestinian farming families who are members of the Palestine Fair Trade Association. Zaytoun names Canaan Palestine as the supplier whose presses the olives go to.
What sizes does Zaytoun olive oil come in?
The product page lists 250ml, 500ml, 750ml, 1 litre and 5 litres. The larger formats are aimed at catering, wholesale and households that cook with olive oil daily.
Where can I buy Zaytoun olive oil?
Through zaytoun.uk directly, and through independent retailers, wholefood shops and community distributors across the UK. The company runs a stockist finder on its site, which is the quickest way to locate a local supplier.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Zaytoun is a small UK importer with an unusual legal structure, a named producer base, a long-standing pair of certifications and a clear, dated public explanation of why those certifications are temporarily off the label. On the evidence the company publishes, the oil is a hand-picked, rain-fed, first cold pressed extra virgin with a peppery character and a Great Taste award behind it.
What it does not publish is chemistry, and neither do most producers, ourselves included. So the sensible way to buy any olive oil is unchanged: find out where the olives grew, how they were picked, how quickly they were pressed, how the oil has been stored, and whether anyone is willing to put a number on it. Zaytoun answers four of those five questions on its own site, which is a better hit rate than most.
Our cold-pressed organic Marrakech olive oil — single-estate, rain-fed and pressed within hours of picking — is available to pre-order. First harvest, estimated shipping from November 2026. Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Pre-Order Sidr & Stone Organic Marrakech Olive Oil — Limited First Harvest →
Disclaimer: This article describes Zaytoun CIC's published product information, corporate registration and certification status as stated on the company's own website at the time of writing; certifications and brand practices change, and readers should check current sources before buying. Comparisons are made in good faith and in fair terms. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.