Examination of quality and branding on olive oil in Turkey

Turkey is among the major producing countries in olive and olive oil production in the world. In this study, it was interviewed 21 firm managers / firma owners who have special characters such as giving importance to quality and branded production, making production with special and attentive, express themselves as boutique producers, getting prize via participating in national and international quality competitions, and certified their quality brands. Among these firms, while 5 firms joined international contests and 8 firms entered national competitions, 8 firms also joined both national and international contests. Two methods were used in this research. In the first qualitative method used, the data obtained from the semi-structured in-depth interview was classified by forming a meaningful integrity with the primary, secondary and tertiary codes. Secondly, in the quantitative method used, socio-demographic characteristics, operating capacities and brands, brand recognition of the firms and operators, and the reward status of the awards were examined in terms of the significant differences between the groups with the Kruskal Wallis Test. In the research; it is determined that the nature of olive, region, climate, soil characteristics, cultural practices applied and most importantly the harvesting of product with intensive labor would affect to production of high quality and branded olive oil. It is also seen that sales prices of the firms which would produce private (boutique) production are high because of the fact that every factor increases the cost in the production process and these increased costs would reflect to the sales prices. On the other hand, it is understood that the quality and branding process is effected from national and international competitions, thus competitive capacities of the firms are tested and eventually these activities would enable the firms recognized at the international level. Keywords: Olive oil, quality, branding, award, competitions, boutique production