A home-grown brand, Zejd offers customers visiting its flagship store, House of Zejd, extra virgin olive oils, as well as exquisitely flavored oils, produced from a wide range of fruity olives, cultivated in the groves of the Akkar region of northern Lebanon. CEO, Youssef Fares, explained that the factory was overhauled and modernized in 2004, and began production that same year. “The entire procedure, including the bottling, is done in-house, to ensure the standards we set for ourselves are maintained,” he said. “Fourteen years on, after winning top honors for our 2017 organic extra virgin olive oil, our patience and perseverance paid off big time.” However, even though Zejd has won numerous international awards, Fares views both natural weather conditions and technology as the main factors contributing to the victory. He described the winning bottle as having special characteristics that give the oil a mildly pungent and peppery taste, with a hint of almonds, due to the combination of green olives mixed with some black olives. “As for what we expect to achieve next year, it is about maintaining the best quality we possibly can,” Fares noted. “Yet, irrespective of what we end up with, at least Lebanon is gradually emerging as an olive-producing country the world needs to take note of.”
