Essaouira · founded 2016
Maison Argan
A women’s cooperative an hour outside Essaouira, pressing argan the slow way — because the fast way costs the oil its polyphenols, and the polyphenols are the point.
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Products on ARIN
34
Women in the cooperative
The founder
“My mother cracked the nuts by hand. I still do it the same way — I just finally got paid for it.”
Khadija · founder, Maison Argan
Verified against the ARIN StandardWhat we check
Founder interviewedIn person, at the press. March 2026.
Sampled for four weeksBy our team, before anything was listed.
Full INCI publishedEvery product, supplied by the house.
Paperwork checkedSafety file and labelling verified against the product.
Last re-checkedMarch 2026. Re-interviewed annually.
What they are known for
Three things worth knowing
01
Cold-pressed within 72 hours
The window between cracking and pressing is what separates argan that works from argan that has already started to turn.
02
A fixed price for the nuts
Agreed before the season starts, so a bad market is not a bad month for the women doing the cracking.
03
Nothing added for scent
Good argan smells faintly of nuts and not much else. If it smells of perfume, something is covering something up.
