Our passion for olive oil started in 1938 when Anthony Micaleff, one of the members of the Micaleff Family, started the production of olive oil in İzmir, and obtained its corporate identity in 1945 with the approval of the Council of Ministers. In those years, the top priority of economic development and growth policies initiated immediately after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey was to bring the domestic private capital into the economy. For this reason, our company was established by the approval of the Council of Ministers in 1945 and entitled by the title of T.A.Ş. (i.e. Türk Anonim Şirketi meaning Turkish Joint Stock Company). Since then, we have been carrying this title with great honor and pride.
Kristal, being Turkey’s first branded olive oil and having pioneered and served to flourish and develop olive oil culture especially in Anatolia for generations, is a very valuable brand, it has been even more than a brand. In 1950s, while olive oil was mainly consumed in Aegean and Marmara Regions, which are the olive oil production areas, Kristal had been a pioneer company introducing and adopting the habit of consuming olive oil among Turkish people in Anatolia.
Kristal is a company of firsts; it is the first brand that produced olive oil and launched its olive oil product range in tin packaging, as well as it is the first company that exported packed and branded olive oil in Turkey.
Kristal owes its strong position in the food industry to its corporate management approach, qualified and dedicated workforce, innovation and continuous improvement. The company's short and long term plans include strengthening its position in the world markets and improving production quality and efficiency.
Kristal exports olive oil to more than 30 countries today. Representing Turkish olive oil proudly in many export markets, Kristal ownes a reputable brand name especially in the European countries where ethnic food markets high in number.
Following the partnership with Arkas Holding in 2007, Kristal has expanded its investments and production capacity followed by taking steps to increase brand awareness and market share in developed markets in Turkey and abroad.
Our company being the first Turkish company to establish an olive oil company in Valencia, Spain in 2018, remains committed to continue its international breakthroughs with the vision of "fulfilling the expectations of all olive oil lovers in the world without sacrificing quality".
Kristal, in addition to olive oil, extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oils, has expanded its product range by launching complementary products such as olive oil bath soap, olive, olive leaf tea since 2017. With its 160 employees, today, the company is among most important companies in the olive oil industry.
We are content with offering quality products to our consumers for generations under the “Kristal” brand since the day our company was founded.
Ayvalık Mill
Our integrated continuous extraction mill in Ayvalık, which was renewed in 2015 with all its processes, serves olive growers and farmers not only in Ayvalık-Edremit region but also in the Aegean region.
The olives harvested from olive groves and brought in crates to our mill are passed through a two-phase continuous system after picking and washing process to remove leaves, twigs or earth, and crushed to produce a homogenous mixture (the paste) from which the olive oil can be extracted.
The paste obtained by crushing the olivesis a combination of liquid (oil and water) and solids (pulp and stones) and then is passed through the decanter to separate the oil, pomace and vegetable water from each other.
After this process, resulting olive oil is re-centrifuged at high speed to separate the flesh from the oil. The olive oil is then filtered and stored in suitable stainless steel tanks at temperatures not exceeding 18⁰C (app. 65°F).
After the completion of the purchasing process followed by physical analysis tests and sensory evaluation performed by our expert teams, olive oil is transported to our Izmir Bornova factory in stainless steel tanks by trucks.
In our facility, we obtain extra virgin olive oil by cold-extraction method from olive paste at temperatures not exceeding 27⁰C (app. 80°F).
İzmir Bornova Factory
The refining of vegetable oils is a very critical process that requires technological competence and reliability. All olive oils which cannot be consumed directly, have high acidity and sensory defects and classified as “raw or lampant olive oil” should be refined in order to be edible.
Our facility established in Bornova-İzmir was upgraded in 2010 with all production processes and turned into an advanced environment-friendly refinery and filling facility. In our refinery plant, raw olive oil is transformed into refined olive oil with water vapor technology without any chemical process.
The refined olive oils obtained are then blended with North Aegean extra virgin olive oil and turned into olive oil, immediately transferred to our filling facility through stainless steel pipes and thereafter packaged for sale.
The extra virgin olive oil obtained from our Ayvalık Mill and also from Turkey's other regions are stored in stainless steel tanks under conditions not exceeding 18⁰C (app. 65°F), followed by careful physical, chemical and sensory analysis made by our expert teams at factory entrance phase. These olive oils are then transported to our filling facility through stainless steel pipes, filtered and packaged for sale without further processing.