Monday 30\11\2015 Ramallah
The annual meeting with the Palestinian olive oil cooperatives 2015
Al Reef Company held the annual meeting withthe Palestinian olive oilcooperatives on Monday in 30 \ 11 \ 2015 at PARC headquarters in Ramallah.
The meeting was opened by the general manager of al Reef, Mr. Salim Abu Ghazaleh, who welcomed all the cooperatives participating in the meeting and thanked them for coming. Mr. Abu Ghazaleh talked about the ongoing relationship between Al Reef, PARC, farmers andmembers of cooperatives.
The agenda of the meeting was:
- The exchange of experiences between the different cooperatives.
- The problems which faced the cooperatives and the presses.
- The achievements made by the cooperatives.
- The relationship between Al Reef and each cooperative togive their points of view.
- Amount of olive oil production compared to last year and the price for this year.
- Clarify the marketing and the investment efforts carried out by the company in the local market, international markets and partners abroad.
They also discussed how the company supports developmental work, to improve farmer's knowledge, and to meet the olive oil standards on the international level. Palestinian olive oil production also is no different than other international oils in quality. Currentlythe olive oil sectoris considered the most successful agricultural productsin Palestine. Al Reef and PARC have supported farmers and cooperatives through capacity building programs on quality development, storage, and other pre-harvest and post-harvest processes.
A problem faced the cooperatives,is the mechanism of the current payment method, which includes 30% in advance and 70% after 70 days, whichaffects the farmer's commitment to sell their product to the cooperatives. Many cooperative members demanded to improve the payment method in order to get the biggest percentage of the sold oil directly after signing the contract with Al Reef. However, as Mr. Abu Ghazaleh explained, it’s very difficult to achieve that given the weak working capital of Al Reef. But still, Al Reef will study solutions for the payment method in cooperation with cooperatives.
Through these discussions the meeting took the following resolutions:
- The premium price for olive oil is to be determined by the cooperative in consultation with members. Al Reef will pay a fixed price and it’s up to the cooperative and members to decide the percentage of the premium. This is because each cooperative has particular needs which require particular amount of premium money.
-Prices of olive oil for cooperatives in this season 2015 are (including the premium):
- Extra Virgin Organic olive oil= 30 NIS
- Extra Virgin olive oil = 27 NIS
(Payments will be made according to the usual system, 30% in advance and 70% after 70 days of delivery).