Workshop on the Future of Egypt’s Olive and Olive Oil Sector

The Food Industries Chamber held a workshop titled The Future of the Olive and Olive Oil Sector in Egypt.

The workshop presented updates to the international Codex standard for olive oil and its implications for the Egyptian standard, as well as the role of the Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality as a contact point with relevant international bodies.

The event also addressed the strategy for developing Egypt’s olive sector, reducing production costs, and exploring opportunities to open new export markets for Egyptian olives and olive oil.

A group of specialists participated in the workshop, including:

• Dr. Hanafi Hashem, Professor of Food Industries at the Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University.
• Dr. Shaker Arafat, Professor of Oils and former Director of the Food Technology Research Institute.
• Dr. Reda Mohamed El-Sayed, Senior Technical Specialist at the Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality.
• Dr. Adel Gabr Abdel Razek, Professor of Oils, Fats, and Derivatives at the National Research Centre.
• Dr. Reda Abdel Gelil, Director General of Technical Affairs at the Food Industries Chamber.
• Mahmoud Hassan, Chairman of Midmart.
• Mai Khairy, Executive Director of the Food Export Council.

The workshop discussed the challenges facing the development of the olive and olive oil sector in Egypt across cultivation, processing, packaging, marketing, and export stages.

It also reviewed best practices for handling olive fruits during and after harvesting, which can improve productivity and quality, along with standards and laboratory testing requirements.

The workshop further addressed sustainability, support for Egyptian industries linked to olives, and opportunities to enhance the sector’s competitiveness, increase exports, and open wider prospects for Egyptian products regionally and globally through commitment to the highest quality standards in production, processing, and packaging.