"It turns out that the tomatoes are from Dakhla in occupied Western Sahara, so we are not going to sell them anymore. These things are not supposed to happen", stated media officer Ingmar Kroon at the Swedish grocery chain Axfood.
It was the Swedish magazine 'Västsahara¨which in April this year discovered cherry tomatoes from the firm Azura in a shop in Gothenburg. The shop belonged to the grocery chain Axfood, with 225 shops in Sweden.
Azura is a French-Moroccan business producing vegetables in Agadir and in the the occupied town of Dakhla in southern parts of Western Sahara.
"I know the Western Sahara issue well. Of course we should not sell products from an occupied territory", said Axfood's media officer Ingmar Kroon to the Swedish magazine.
When Axfood carried out its first control, they were told that the tomatoes were from "Southern Morocco", but when looking further into the issue, they discovered they were from Dakhla. Azura stated to Axfood that EU's agreement with Morocco also covers Western Sahara.
"But we are not of that opinion", stated Mr. Kroon.
In 2009, Azura tomatoes were discovered also in the shops of Coop in Norway and Sweden. Coop Norway then promised to halt all furthher imports. Coop Sweden announced that their tomatoes, on the other hand, only came from Agadir - not Dakhla.
8000 people work in the Azura's giant green houses in Dakhla, most of all producing tomatoes and melons for exports.
GMP+ does not check if “sustainable” fish is legally caught
The world’s largest certification scheme for “safe and sustainable animal feed” does not check whether its certified fish feed companies source from illegal fisheries in occupied Western Sahara, where catches violate the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination.
ASC withdraws from occupied Western Sahara
Certification scheme ends involvement with Azura Group and declares that no future certifications will be granted to companies in the occupied territory.
Morocco plans another giant power line from occupied Western Sahara
Don’t be fooled by the clean-energy rhetoric on this new 1,000 km power line – this is about infrastructural annexation of occupied land.
SRI update
The following overview enlists stock-exchange registered companies with current or recent operations in occupied Western Sahara. Updated 29 November 2025.