Black seed oil – Economy of Love

Traceback your Blackseed oil

and explore your

impact on people

& the environment

Creating a

FAIR ECONOMY

$ 12,326

are invested in supporting the small farmers of EoL in carbon sequestration and avoidance practices.

Creating a

FAIR SOCIETY

100%

of full-time employees in Sekem who worked to produce this product receive health insurance and safe working conditions.

Life Long Learning &

WELLBEING

10%

of the working time in Sekem is dedicated to art and self-development activities; to promote wellbeing and happiness at work.

Protecting the

ENVIRONMENT

100%

of the people who worked to produce this product throughout the supply chain receive ecological awareness trainings.

Farming

The plant, nigella sativa, that produces the blackseeds is grown on multiple locations in Egypt like: SEKEM Wahat, Minia, Asuit and Aswan. They are all Demeter certified farms that grow under the principle of organic and biodynamic methods which provide the highest quality products and enhance biodiversity.

EoL supports small-scale farmers on their path to green energy by providing them with funds and the necessary tools to facilitate their transition.

EoL provides guidance and support for small-scale farmers through engineers who give them consultancies every step of the way.

Animal welfare is ensured by the biodynamic principles that views the farm system as an organism where every part: animals, soil, plant and people need one another to flourish.

Meet The Farmers

get to the source of production

Abdel-Ghaffar

Farmer in Asiut, Egypt

Abdel-Ghaffar is a partner with SEKEM for 15 years, growing biodynamic crop on his farm called Abdel-Ghaffar Farm. He uses biodynamic preparation and compost with no pesticide. SEKEM covers all their needs and takes samples for analyzing the quality of the soil.

Saber

Farmer in Aswan, Egypt

Saber has his own Demeter certified farmland in Aswan called Basateen Aswan Farm. He clarifies that since partnering with SEKEM his income increased. SEKEM always support them with the training needed and provide them with the materials that help them plant in more efficient way

Waleed

Farmer in Wahat Oasis, Egypt

Waleed is an agriculture engineer in Wahat SEKEM Farm. His children study at SEKEM school, also his wife teaches Arabic there. They are living a wonderful new experience surrounded by calming beautiful places. He’s a hard worker farmer trying to cover all the herbs needed in the market.

Processing

After the harvest, the black seeds arrive at iSiS organic food company where they get sample tested to make sure that is the quality is according to the standards of both Demeter and organic. The Black seeds are cleaned from any impurities and are ready to be cold-pressed and filtered to produce the oil.

Using cold pressing techniques allows for less energy usage as it doesn’t require heat or the use of chemical solvents.

Barely any waste is left after the oil extraction process. The seed residue is used to make animal feed and compost production, which are used on the Sekem Adlya farm, close to the iSiS factory.

The factory workers receive medical care that is readily available to them from the medical center located next to the factory.

Packaging

Now after the black seed oil is filtered, it arrives at the packaging department to be poured into glass bottles, after which it gets sealed with a metal top, a plastic cover, a Sekem label sticker and it is ready to go.

The factory ensures the optimal usage of the oil during the packaging process with minimal waste produced, where the wasted oil is collected and used.

As part of Sekem holding , the world bank and UN women has granted isis the “One Business Community, Equal Opportunity Seal” for their efforts in supporting women and ensuring equality

iSiS employees are part of the core program Sekem offers, which includes art, music and environmental awareness sessions.

Packaging Material

The Black seed oil could be responsibly grown and processed, but its packaging material and the companies from which they are sourced do also have a huge impact on the products’ lifetime, and cannot be neglected.

The oil bottles are made from glass, which is energy-intensive, where the process of shaping the glass uses a lot of combustion energy resulting in Co2 emissions that iSiS do not account for.

The sticker label on the bottles is made of FSC certified materials.

The tops that seals the bottles are made from metal and the cover on top is made from plastic, which is not accounted for by the iSiS factory when offsetting their emissions.

Distribution

The bottles of black seed oil are now ready to be distributed directly to your home, local shops, or overseas.

iSiS always opts for sea freight and only makes the decision to use air freight on the rare occasion that a client orders a small amount that can not be transported by sea.

Distribution process is under the supervision of Isis to ensure the selection of the shipping cars to be cleaned and qualified for the process.

Drivers receive health consultancies from SEKEM medical center located near the factory to make sure that they monitor their health to reduce any work strains.

Meet The Employees

have a look, who processed, packaged and distributed your product

Marwa

Quality Manager in iSiS

Marwa has been working in the iSiS factory for more than 8 years. Together with her husband and two children, she lives on the SEKEM farm.

Nour

Factory Engineer at iSiS

Nour Hassan lives with her family in Kafr Ayoub located near Belbies. She is responsible for packaging the oils and different products.

Noura

Factory Engineer at iSiS

Noura lives in Galvina, and though she’s only been working for a few months, she’s already impressed with the values and programs SEKEM offers, as she didn’t find such things in her pervious jobs.

Hossam

Factory Engineer in iSiS

Hossam lives in Galvina with his family, and has been working with SEKEM for 15 years. He’s in charge of oil extraction in the oil production department.

What is the True Price?

Are there hidden costs that the price doesn't reflect?

True Price Comparision

Sustainably & ethically produced products add value to society. However, when comparing prices, we don’t take into account the long-term impact of the product. For example, since the sustainable agricultural practices of cultivating the black seed is sequestering Co2e it is actually saving up future damage cost that you’ll eventually pay for. This means that it is cheaper than products that emit Co2e, but so often the price tag doesn’t reflect that.

We encourage you to compare products based on their true price; the price that reflects the hidden costs that you and future generations eventually pay for.

Indirect Costs include:

WATER

REPROCESSING COST

Society is paying taxes to clean water sources from agriculture’s chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, as well as the irresponsible disposal of wastewater from factories, in order to make it usable/drinkable water.