Nr. 150 - March 2015
Harvesting Time
Turning Oranges Into Juice at SEKEM
Editorial Dear Readers, many of your friends or relatives may have been in touch with SEKEM for a long time without being aware of it. They may have already enjoyed oranges from SEKEM, which are processed by the German fruit juice company Voelkel for European markets. Or they may have fought their last rhinitis with a herbal tea from Lebensbaum, the German company whose teas also contain herbs from SEKEM. Chances are good that they may also have purchased onions, potatoes, sesame or many other products of SEKEM in one of the numerous organic supermarkets in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. In short: SEKEM can invest into human and environmental development in Egypt also because many people purchase and enjoy SEKEM products. In Egypt, it has now become even easier to support SEKEM through conscious shopping with the new table water ISIS is now bringing to market. Two articles in this issue report on how the water and the aforementioned oranges, that are now being harvested, find their way into your supermarkets.
Your Team of Editors Find SEKEM also on the Internet at:
ISIS Table Water Opening of the New Bottling Plant
Girl’s Day
Celebrating Girl’s Day at the VTC
On SEKEM’s Fields: Cultivating Oranges in Egypt
Spring is the time for harvesting citrus fruits at SEKEM, first and foremost oranges. They are turned into the tasty, natural orange juice produced by ISIS and shipped to local and international markets.
Now in February, the orange trees bear the heavy load of the fruits that SEKEM’s farmers have been cultivating the past year. It is in early spring that they are ready to be harvested.
I
t is harvesting time now in Egypt for all citrus fruits including limes and particularly oranges. In January, orange trees across the country are bowing under the tremendous weight of the huge golden fruits that brightly glow in the sunlight. SEKEM runs four farms where it grows oranges. The ever-popular fruits are a good example of the sustainable and fair ways of producing agricultural produce at the initiative. It produces the precious fruits on the farm
Adleja, just a few kilometres outside of the main SEKEM farm. Here, SEKEM also grows limes and vegetables next to the oranges. Twelve co-workers attend to the small trees on Adleja in charge of the cultivation of the plants. Depending on requirements, they receive additional help from up to eight other co-workers. Among the original twelve are four agricultural engineers who instruct the others SEKEM Insight | March 2015 | Page 1