THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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While the olive harvest and olive oil production continues rapidly in the Edremit Bay of Balıkesir province, Dr. Mücahit Kıvrak, Balıkesir University Edremit Vocational High School lecturer, said, “There is no olive oil for 85 liras in a 5 kg-tin can.”
Indicating that the adulteration (counterfeiting) incidents put the sector in a difficult position with the olive and olive oil production season, Dr. Kıvrak warned the consumers to make conscious shopping.
Department of Olive and Olive Technologies Lecturer Dr. Mücahit Kıvrak explained, “If possible, our consumers should buy them from official stores with production permits. At this point, our biggest problem is the adulteration on the road sides and market places. They deceive the citizen while saying they are producers. Actually, it is out of the question that they are real producers.”
“They considerably sell mixed oil. These mixed oil sellers have no relation to olive cultivation in any way. They don’t have any olive groves. Because our olive-growing friends usually either brand or pour this crop to the cooperatives they are affiliated with or sell them through merchants to sell their products happily,” Dr. Mücahit Kıvrak added.
Underlining that olive oil has a price in commodity exchanges and markets, Dr. Mücahit Kıvrak concluded, “Currently we have olive oil prices across Turkey announced by Tariş Agricultural Sales Cooperatives and commodity exchanges. However olive oil is sold far below that. Olive oil does not cost 85 liras in a 5-tin can. It is not possible to sell at this level. It does not contain a drop of olive oil. At this point, the consumer should not be deceived by saying ‘I buy it cheaply’. Remember: Gold is never bought from a peddler. Gold is bought from the jeweler. For this reason, it is beneficial to buy olive and olive oil products from our shops from our producers and those who have the permission of the ministry.”
