🫒 Haouzia

Haouzia is a Moroccan olive cultivar, a clonal selection from the Moroccan Picholine made by Morocco's National Institute for Agricultural Research. It is valued for its precocity and productivity — up to 60 kg of fruit per tree. The fruit gives oil with medium green fruitiness and is also made into green table olives.

The Moroccan Picholine is the backbone of local olive growing: it accounts for more than 96% of Morocco's olive plantings. It is a population variety, meaning it contains many trees that differ from one another. From this diversity, scientists picked the two best clones — Haouzia and Menara.

Haouzia was finally chosen for its precocity: under irrigation the first crop comes as early as the third year. The cultivar is very productive — up to 60 kg of fruit per tree — roots easily from cuttings and resists olive leaf spot; according to an International Olive Council review, it also tolerates drought and olive knot. The fruit contains about 24% oil. Picholine du Languedoc usually serves as its pollinator.

Haouzia oil contains about 70% oleic, 12% palmitic and 12% linoleic acid, and about 400 mg/kg of polyphenols. Its taste is described as medium fruity with green notes, with bitterness and pungency in balance. The fruit, whose stone comes away easily, is also valued by canners, who use it for green olives.

On the label. Moroccan olives and olive oil mean above all the Moroccan Picholine, yet newly selected clones such as Haouzia are being planted ever more widely. A label that says “Haouzia” points to oil from this very clone: expect medium green fruitiness and moderate bitterness.