A Novel Love

MY OLIVE OIL FROM AKHİSAR

Akhisar is a rising city with its hardworking and friendly people. Akhisar is home to 14 million olive trees. This makes it the district with the highest number of olive trees in Turkey.
Even though Turkey's verified oldest olive tree is located in Akhisar, it is the Capital of Olives thanks to fertile olive groves suitable for mechanised agriculture that has been planted in the past 40 years. Akhisar has the highest quantities and the most consistent quality levels in Turkey. Hence, both local entrepreneurs and bigger national olive companies established their olive and olive oil businesses in Akhisar. Since Akhisar is the district with the highest number of olive trees and the centre for olive trade #zeytindeninceakhisar (When you say olive, you say Akhisar) simply makes sense.

AKHİSAR

Do you wonder why olive oils from Akhisar are high quality but also affordable? People of Akhisar take good care of their olive trees to be able to harvest table olives. Olive oil is obtained from olives that couldn’t be table olives due to their smaller size.

For olive to be suitable as a table olive, they have to look appealing. Therefore, groves are watered throughout the summer, fertilised and done pest control. During the harvest season, they are only hand-picked one by one to avoid any damage and they are transported in vented crates. Afterwards, they are sorted based on their sizes. While the large- and medium-sized ones are considered as table olives, small ones are used for oils.

In other words, olive oils from Akhisar are high quality and low in acidity because they are obtained from table-grade olives.

There are 5 different olive cultivars grown in Akhisar. Some of them are picked while they are green, others are picked after they turn black. The oil obtained from green olives is considered Early Harvest and has a bitter taste. Whereas, the oil obtained from black olives has a softer taste.

Thanks to cultivating different olive cultivars, Akhisar can produce oils for every taste.

This is why there is a difference between the taste of olive oils from Northern Agean and Southern Aegean Regions. Types of olives used and regional differences create distinctive tasting notes and smells which differentiates these olive oils from each other. Northern Agean olive oils are obtained from olives of Edremit Gulf from groves between the breezy seaside and the Mount Ida. They are lighter coloured and have a fresh taste with less fruity notes. On the other hand, Southern Aegean olive oils are produced from the olives of Muğla, Milas and Akhisar. They have an aromatic scent and intense flavour with fruity notes.