Tobacco region becomes sea of olive

Akhisar, a town in the Aegean province of Manisa long referred to as a tobacco center, has become famous for its olive trees. Supplying 70 percent of Turkey’s table olive production, the town exports olive products to 41 countries.

Unable to obtain sufficient income from tobacco, the farmers in Akhisar started increasing the planting of olive saplings 15 years ago and have now nearly transformed the plain into a sea of olives. There are 10.27 million olive trees in Akhisar, half of which bear fruit. The goal is to make the region a worldwide leader in olives.

Mustafa Gökalp, vice chairman of the board in the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Union, said there were 3 million trees in Akhisar in 1993, when the group built its factory, but the number has now climbed to 11 million.

This success has also affected nearby towns, Gökalp said. “Some other districts such as Gölmarmara, Salihli, Köprübaşı and Alaşehir have also oriented toward the olive business. The brands that emerged in Akhisar have expanded all over Turkey. The olive and olive-oil brands, which hold an important share of total olive exports, are successfully promoting Akhisar, our olives and our oil in foreign countries.”

Some 70 percent of the region’s olives are assessed as table olives, which is the highest in Turkey, Gökalp said. “Domat and Uslu, which are among the most important table olive types, originate in Akhisar. Domat, Uslu, Edremit and Gemlik types are of the quality and tonnage to be processed industrially and offered to global markets. It is not possible to find four varieties of potential table olives anywhere else in Turkey.”

Thanks to its geographic location and the strategic importance of its olive varieties, Akhisar is currently one of the bases of the olive business in Turkey and is likely to become more important in the coming years as Akhisar residents set their minds to the issue, according to Gökalp. 

Akhisar is the olive capital, according to Emin Demirci, chairman of Akhisar Commodity Exchange. “This region has the largest tree wealth. There is a high harvest level here during this season. We forecast that 200,000 tons will be obtained from 5.4 million bearers. Out of this amount, 100,000 tons will be reserved as oil and the rest will be table olives. We expect production to increase to 400,000 tons by 2015.”

In 1970s, Akhisar was known as a tobacco producer but now it is taking steps to become an olive and food region, noted Demirci, adding that they have applied to the Turkish Patent Institute for the Domat and Uslu varieties.

Akhisar Mayor Salih Hızlı said olive and olive oil have an increasing value in the world and added that the aim is to promote Akhisar’s products all over the world.

Nearly 200,000 tons of olives are produced in Akhisar, said Gökalp, adding that the sector provides significant job opportunities for many people. Noting that Turkey’s olive production is rising each year, Gökalp said the yield of table olives is expected to be 400,000 tons this year. The country consumes between 180,000 and 200,000 tons of olives and exports around 60,000 tons, he said.