It is highly sought after: the El Mordjene spread, now banned in Europe, is wreaking havoc in the Phocaean city

Pots de pâte à tartiner El Mordjene. Capture Instagram – @cebon.dz

La pâte à tartiner El Mordjene qui est devenue en quelques jours une obsession sur les réseaux sociaux est depuis le 13 septembre 2024 interdite en Europe, des containers de marchandises sont bloqués par la douane, à Marseille. Des habitants, de la cité phocéenne témoignent.

A Friday the 13th of misfortune for the people of Marseille who have seen the new Algerian spread El Mordjene banned from European stores because of the milk powder present in the ingredients, revealed BFM Marseille this Monday, September 16.

“They are jealous of Nutella ?”

“I can't find it anywhere", declared a woman interviewed by our colleagues. It is a mystery to many residents of the Phocaean city, who are looking for an explanation for the shortage of this Algerian spread, El Mordjene.

“I went up to La Canebière, I looked in two stores, it's no longer there. I asked a saleswoman who told me that she had ordered them, but that the pallets were returned, so they can't have any”, another resident and consumer is surprised.

However, no one can find any in Marseille anymore. The only lucky ones have to pay the price. In the shops, the prices have gone from 6-7 euros to more than 15 euros for a 700 gram pot. And for good reason, the pallets ordered by the many stores are blocked in the port of Marseille by customs.

If the authorities have taken such a decision, it is because of a question concerning the European regulation on imports of dairy products, specifies La Provence.

“The problem is lobbying”

Hadj Bekkouche Habib Merouane, in charge of public relations for Apoce – Algerian Consumer Protection Organization – told our colleagues that “the real problem is lobbying. It is disturbing that another foreign product, which is also Algerian, is taking market share from another European product”.