Our source: the Souss, and the women who know it.
Sawb Argan began in 2016 in a rented room in the Essaouira medina, with one press, one cooperative and one rule: never heat the kernel.
Tamanar · since 2016
A workshop that smells of toasted almond.
Essaouira médina
Our founder, Houda Amrani, grew up two streets from the port. Her aunt pressed oil for the family every autumn, and the bottles never lasted to spring. When she came home after a decade working in cosmetics labs in Lyon, she wanted to make what her aunt made, at a scale that pays fairly.
We buy kernels only from the Tamanar women’s cooperative, at a price agreed before the harvest so that a dry year doesn’t fall on their shoulders. Sixty-two members work with us today, and each batch carries the name of the group who cracked it.
In the workshop, five of us press, rest, filter and blend. Every formula starts with argan, and we add only what the skin or hair needs: rose water from Kelâat M’Gouna, ghassoul clay from the Middle Atlas, orange blossom from the gardens around Marrakech.
We keep the collection small on purpose. Twelve products, each one tested on our own families for a full season before it reaches you.
- Cooperative members
- 62
- Kg of fruit per litre
- 30
- Maximum press temperature
- 40°C
- Products, no more
- 12
How we make it
Four promises we keep at the bench, and how you can check each one.
Cold, always
Kernels are pressed raw, below 40°C. Heat makes more oil, faster; it also flattens the vitamin E we want to keep.
Named batches
Each label shows the press date and the cooperative group. Write to us with the batch code and we’ll tell you who cracked it.
Glass, refillable
Oils and serums go into amber glass. Bring empties to the Essaouira workshop and we refill them for 20% less.
A price set before harvest
We agree the kernel price with the cooperative each spring, and it doesn’t drop if the market does.
Inside the workshop
Visit us in Essaouira
