Located opposite the Oasis train station, you’ll find my favourite place to buy local products at fixed prices without having to pay the famous “foreigner tax”. A must stop for my friends visiting Casablanca who want to bring back souvenirs and perfect when I am short of gift ideas to bring back when I return to France.
The Marché Solidaire was created by the Mohamed V Foundation for Solidarity. The building is clean and organised and offers more than 8000 references of local products spread over two floors. The products include food, handicrafts, cosmetics and textiles.
The foodstuffs and other products come from 350 women’s cooperatives spread throughout Morocco. The big plus is that the proceeds from sales are entirely paid back to them, which allows these women to earn a better salary, to develop their work tools and to no longer be at the mercy of certain intermediaries who are sometimes unscrupulous.
As the products are of good quality and relatively cheap, the Marché Solidaire is very popular. Beware of weekends when the locals and expats come to stock up on olive oil, honey and spices. If you want to be on the safe side, choose the mornings instead.
The cosmetics section is particularly popular and you can find black soaps with dozens of different fragrances or essential oils of all kinds (20-50Dh) with the added bonus of very pretty packaging. The rose water and the argan oil scrubs are sure values and are offered at prices defying all competition (about 24Dh dirhams for the rose water and 40Dh for 55ml for the cosmetic argan oil).
With the Marché Solidaire, there is no need to buy a bottle of argan oil at a high price in a fancy shop in the city centre or to feel like you are being ripped off in one of the city’s souks.
As far as food is concerned, my favourites are: harissa (15Dh for 150gr), olives, almonds (25 DH for 250gr) and the huge choices of Amlou (the famous Berber Nutella at 80Dh for 400gr) as you can see in the picture.
Go there without any specific goal, and above all bring a big bag because you will certainly not leave the Marché Solidaire empty-handed. You can spend while doing a good deed, so there’s no need to feel guilty!
* Prices are given as an indication and depend on the season and the cooperatives’ proposals
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