Focus on brands in olive oil

An entrepreneur who has been in the olive oil business since 1986 has focused on creating brands by adding a packaging facility to his factory together with his two partners in the southern city of Hatay, reported Turkish weekly magazine Ekonomist.

Yılmaz Dönmez, owner of Şifa Zeytinyağları, an olive oil company, has realized the importance of creating brands and launched the production of “Şifanur” and “Golden Drop” brands. Close to the end of 2005, he established a packaging facility in Altunözü, a town in Hatay, with an investment of approximately $1.5 million.

Olive oil is a family business, Dönmez said. “Around 50 percent of Hatay’s olive oil comes from Altınözü. The remaining comes from other towns. Altınözü is a depot, and I started working at this depot.”

He launched his recent investment with his two friends that deal with trade, Mehmet Ali Yüksel and Selim Ergüvenoğlu. “Previously, I used to sell bulk olive oil. But now we have obtained all certifications, such as ISO 9001. We established a packaging facility on 2,000 square meters that has a monthly capacity of around 700 tons. We make all kinds of packaging such as bottle and tinplate.”

The firm has made significant progress with the Şifanur brand in the domestic market and Golden Drop as an export. Providing products for Carrefour, the firm is in talks with the A101 market chain. Dönmez, who launched exports in 2007, sends the Golden Drop brand to Middle East countries, Romania, the United States and the Netherlands.

Noting that the firm has also reached a deal with Russia, he said: “We have sent the first parcel. As Russia does not know olive oil, it constitutes a significant market for us.”

Exporting easier than domestic market:

There is also a secondary product, prina oil, which is referred as roast oil. “We re-process olive pulp and extract its oil and refine it and then mix it with natural olive oil. This is called prina oil in food regulation. It is as durable as olive oil and three times better than sunflower. I sent quite a good amount abroad last year.”

Despite focusing on the domestic market in 2006, Dönmez oriented toward exports after 2007. “I have escaped abroad because I faced some problems in the domestic market. It is very difficult to compete domestically.”

There are 10 people working at the company. Noting that he wants to work with markets such as Carrefour and Migros, Dönmez said the firm has many customers for unpackaged oil. “Russia and Romania have found us through our Web site. I do not face any problems abroad; therefore, I will focus on foreign markets.”

Hatay has 13.59 million olive trees. Out of 270,000 decares of agricultural land, around 50,000 decares are allocated for olive cultivation. Last year’s production totaled 193,500 tons and olive oil production reached 40,000 tons.