In the old days, the olive harvest was a winter affair, often stretching into late December or even the heart of January. Olives would be fully ripe, actually a bit overly ripe, but would give a higher yield of oil. Those were the days when high acidity was not considered a problem. For some, it was even a telltale of real olive taste. I remember talking about this with Christopher Dologh, the third-generation CEO of Kristal, a leading olive oil brand in Türkiye. He was saying that once that was the norm for many, especially from Arab countries, customers would prefer those late harvest olive oils with high acidity and a rather harsh taste. That kind of oil was categorized as lampante, meaning fit for burning lamps, or other mechanical uses, but not suitable for culinary purposes. Not that it was toxic or harmful to health, but still, it was too strong and overpowering for cooking. Then came the olive oil transformation, or maybe better to say revolution. People began talking about early harvest, modern pressing techniques, cold extraction methods, low acidity and so on. Across the Mediterranean, people suddenly became aware of the virtues and diverse qualities of olive oil and began discussing local olive terroirs and indigenous varieties. Chris was one of them. Maybe he was among the first here, in Türkiye.
From Malta to Levantine İzmir
January is no longer the olive-picking time. But this January, I cannot help but remember how I met him years back at an olive harvest event in Ayvalık, where he was passionately talking about olives. This January, it is sad times for the Kristal group; Christopher Dologh passed away at the young age of 50, after a long battle with cancer. He belonged to a Levantine family who made İzmir their home. The family suffered another heavy loss earlier this month; Noel Micallef, Chris’s maternal uncle, passed away at the age of 91.
Micaleff’s were originally from Malta. The settlement of the Micaleff family in İzmir was not their initial choice. It all started with a ship, and that ship is still on each Kristal olive oil bottle or tin. The story goes like this: In the 1850s, the great-grandfather boarded a ship from Malta bound for Crimea, but a temporary stop at İzmir harbor ended up becoming his final destination. With the Crimean War raging, he left his two sons in İzmir for safety; yet, by the time the war ended and he returned for them, they had already settled and begun their lives as ship chandlers. İzmir offered a wealth of opportunities, with many Levantine families from Europe trading with the Western world, making it the perfect place to start anew.
Grandson Anthony Micaleff started to produce olive oil in the late 1930’s and established his first factory by 1945. To reflect the crystal-clear quality of their oil, the brand was named Kristal. The company was the first to introduce tin cans to sell the oil, so it could travel to inland areas easily, and as a node to the ship that started the whole story from Malta to İzmir, there was a picture of a ship, to symbolize their voyage from Malta. Packed in tin cans, olive oil was easily transported to remote inland areas in Anatolia where olive oil was not normally available, and people would recognize the brand by the ship picture.
From local to global
Christopher Dolough was, in a way, born in the olive oil business. The paternal Dologh side of him was from Hungary, but as a true İzmir citizen, he was devoted to olives, and his vision extended beyond the sea. He spearheaded the strengthening of the company’s corporate structure and the brand's transformation into a global player. Though he wanted to play global, he truly recognized the virtues of the local. He initiated the first “The Türkiye Collection” for olive oils, featuring oil from regional varieties. Their factory in Ayvalık was already producing the Ayvalık olive oil, the first in the country to receive geographical indication. He added other varieties to the collection, starting a collaboration initiative with local small producers. The collection included Kilis Yağlık from the Syrian border, Sarı Ulak from the Mediterranean, and Hatay Saurani variety from Antioch. The project aimed at promoting and protecting local varieties by transforming the labor of local producers into value-added, branded products, thereby highlighting geographical diversity. As Anatolian varieties began to reach consumers, people started to talk about regional varieties of olive oil. Later, he also differentiated Kristal products as North Aegean or South Aegean, again indicating the terroir difference.
The Kristal brand eventually merged with Arkas group, a leading shipping and logistics company with a Levantine background, founded by Lucien Arkas. The families were childhood friends, so it was an inevitable marriage of companies. By joining forces with Arkas, Chris also became the architect of the globalization strategy for Turkish olive oil. He saw Spain as an opportunity, as a gateway to Europe as being the leading olive oil producer in the world. His wife being from Ecuador, it was again a voyage to the other side of the Mediterranean, this time not with a ship, but by oil trade. One of the cornerstones of his global expansion plan was the establishment of “Aceites Kristal” in Valencia, Spain, in 2018. This step provided the Kristal brand with a competitive advantage within the EU, while also enabling exports originating in Türkiye — marking a strategic milestone in strengthening the branded export capacity of Turkish olive oil.
Today, the ship sails on. Kristal is exported to 25+ countries with the ship logo still on tin cans and glass bottles. I always referred to him as Chris of Kristal, seeing him as a prince for the brand that bears the ship. The legacy of Chris will sail on; he will always be remembered as the prince of local olives.
