Cebon

Cebon (Arabic: سيبون) is an Algerian foods company that produces foods under the El Mordjene (Arabic: المرجان) brand. It is best known for its hazelnut spreads, also known as simply El Mordjene, which went viral in France in 2024.

Its head office is in Fouka, Tipaza Province.¹

Cebon was founded in 1997 in Oran, Algeria as a family business,² incorporated as a société à responsabilité limitée (SARL, a type of limited-liability company).³ It produces food products⁴ under the brand El Mordjene,³ such as spreads,⁵⁶⁷ honey,⁸ whipped cream,⁹ food coloring,¹⁰ vegetable fat,¹¹ powdered sugar,¹² and corn starch.¹³

Due to a viral trend on social media like TikTok,¹⁴ initially through Algerian influencers and later those from the Algerian diaspora,¹⁵ the company experienced a surge in demand for its spread products in 2024, which had been produced since 2021.³ It was also tested by French influencers.¹⁶ In France, where it was sold by select grocery stores and imported via the shuttle trade,¹⁶¹⁷ it quickly sold out.¹⁸ This high demand drove up prices in France.¹⁹

By 2025 the French Ministry of Agriculture banned the product, and the European Union banned the importation of El Mordjene in EU territory. This caused issues in Algeria-France relations, and Lauren Collins of The New Yorker wrote that, citing Ferrero's existing dominance of Nutella and a belief that a motive could be to protect Nutella, "some see [the ban] as politically motivated."²⁰ The Ministry of Agriculture stated that the ban was based on EU food safety laws regulating the import of dairy products from Algeria.²¹²⁰

The range of spreads was voted product of the year by a panel of Algerian consumers in 2022, 2023, and 2024.³

The hazelnut spread El Mordjene has been unofficially dubbed an "Algerian Nutella".²²²³²⁴