Çiğdem Sarı Fraser, a 56-year-old travel agency owner and tourism operator living in Bodrum, settled on the land in Dörttepe Village, which she bought 20 years ago with her British architect husband, 72-year-old Cliff Fraser. It was then they started producing elixir olive oil.

Fraser, who has been producing olive oil for two years, recently won the Gold Award among 180 producers in the National Olive Oil Quality Competition.

He said, “Together with my wife, we took care of the olive grove, located on 20 acres of land and 600 trees aged between 20-500 years. 

“We did not have children, we took our olive trees as our children. We started production two years ago by grafting most of the trees with Memecik olives. Getting the Gold Award for our first effort has boosted our morale.”

Emphasizing that his world has changed with his understanding of organic farming, Fraser said: “I am a travel agency business owner, but five years ago, I experienced a big change in my life, my awareness increased and I started to look at life from a better window, naturally my lifestyle and my eating pattern changed. 

“I chose a vegetarian diet, so we started to produce our own food. Organic farming became my field of interest. Being a farmer rather than a tourism business owner has made me happier. Dealing with nature and soil gives people another endless energy. 

“At our farm, which we call Fraser’s Olive Garden, we offer volunteer youth from all over the world the opportunity to meet the land, as well as expert craftsmen.”

Fraser said: “We have hosted young people from 15 countries so far, they are currently working, they are taking care and cleaning of olive trees. In addition, they learn about the culture of the region, the way of nutrition and the importance of olive oil.”

Çiğdem added: “I have done a lot of research on organic agriculture and obtaining quality oil, and I learned the way to buy quality products. We made our first attempt in 2019 and we achieved really successful results. 

“First of all, our acid value was 0.25, almost non-existent, and our polyphenol value was 625, and we offered our oils for sale as a medicine potion/extra virgin oil with our own means. In a very short time, our customer base expanded with recommendations. 

“We do the harvest in October. Since the day of harvest last year, I have shared things on social media, including squeezing in the factory day by day, and we started taking orders before the product came home. Before we put our oil on sale, we leave it to rest in specially made steel tanks for a month, then we bottle it and it is ready for sale.” 

Fraser stated that for the elixir olive oil they produced in a short time, only one liter of oil was obtained from 10 kilograms of olives in the early harvest cold pressing method, therefore the cost is high.

He said: “Also, we do not use chemicals in our trees and soil, we applied for organic agriculture this year, and next year we will add the Organic phrase to our products. The color and aroma of the olive oil are preserved with the early harvest cold pressed system. This aroma is quite different from other oils. It is greener in color.”

Fraser stated in their scientific research that they learned that whatever grows under the olive tree derives its aroma from that plant, and said, “We planted aromatic plants such as thyme, mint and lavender under our trees. We saw that the smell of the plant under the olive tree was reflected in the elixir olive oil.”

Çiğdem said, “We know that a tablespoon of olive oil to be taken every morning on an empty stomach has a positive effect, like a natural medicine, for dozens of diseases, from balancing blood pressure to heart ailments. It has many beneficial effects.

“Unfortunately, elixir is not common in Turkey at the moment, as olive oil production is difficult and expensive. As a company, we provide scientific support to olive producers in the region for the spread of elixir olive oil.”