By Omar Gouda
Located in Egypt’s Western Desert, Siwa Oasis hosts a network of saline lakes and sabkhas (salt flats) where intense evaporation concentrates groundwater into extractable salts.
Geological and remote-sensing studies have mapped key hypersaline lakes such as Birket al-Maraqi and Fatnas and documented the sabkha formations responsible for producing both rock and lake salts.
Siwa’s salt industry is gaining visibility beyond its desert origins. While local harvesters continue to extract crystalline flakes from the region’s shallow sabkhas, “Siwa salt” has begun appearing in specialty food shops in small jars.
Siwa’s lakes and springs are the most mineralized zones within the local aquifer, with high concentrations of sodium, chloride, and other salts explaining the region’s substantial salt yields from its lakes and sabkhas.
Traditional Uses Recorded in Ethnography and Heritage Listings
Siwa salt has a traditional role in food preservation, such as salting and drying meat, and its use in regional culinary practices. Food-heritage sources identify Siwa “raw salt” as a distinct, locally specific ingredient.
Commercial production: Companies, Product Lines, and Export Claims
Multiple Egyptian suppliers like Siwa Salt Group and Siwa Salt advertise Siwa rock/raw salt and list product categories that include industrial rock salt, refined food-grade salt, and shipments for export; company pages and trade listings explicitly state export markets and minimum-order export offers.
Heritage Recognition: Slow Food’s Ark of Taste entry
The Slow Food Foundation’s Ark of Taste includes “Siwa raw salt” (Malh Siwi), documenting its local culinary applications. This listing affirms the salt’s cultural significance and offers a heritage reference for traditional food reporting.
The Way Ahead
The presence of retail and online outlets such as Siwa Shali Store and Tayyiba Farms confirms that salt sourced from Siwa Oasis is making its way into consumer markets — not just industrial supply chains.
While major export figures and high-end boutique branding remain less documented in public research, the concrete availability of consumer-sized Siwa salt packages and branded storefronts indicates a real, though niche, domestic market.
