Zeynep Kürşat Alumur

& Ali Kürşat

Owners, Artisanal Olive Oil Kursat

Zeynep is an agricultural engineer for the Kürşat Family Mill, Ayvalık. She and her brother Ali, are the fourth generation of olive growers & olive oil producers in the family. Originally from Crete the family moved to Ayvalık in 1923, a land renowned for its ancient olive trees.

The mill only presses a single olive variety, “Ayvalık”, named after the region where they grow - a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. Olives have been cultivated in this region for over 1000 years – with trees over 2.5 million trees covering 43% or the region – it boasts olive trees that are over 500 years old.

As an agricultural engineer, Zeynep wants to protect the vitality of the olive orchards for all future generations. Their family tradition is to focus on a quality product, while preserving the natural environment – working in harmony with nature to ensure a focus on diversity for the olive trees, other native fruit trees and the wildlife that relies on this ecosystem.

They want to share the beauty of this world and to create an inspiring and happy working environment for themselves and their guests.

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Ali Kürşat was born in Istanbul in 1981 and grew up in Ayvalık. He studied in Ayvalık until his high school years and then graduated from İzmir American Collegiate High School. In 2004, he graduated from Penn State University school of Business and Hospitality. He worked in New York for about two years. His experience in hospitality has contributed to his meticulousness and versatility in the fields of farming, olive / olive oil production and restaurant management in his later years.

Ali, the grandson of a family of Olive farmers with a deep connection with the olive tree and the land of Ayvalık, has grown up at the family tables filled with herbal dishes adorned with olive oil.

The geography of the Northern Aegean gave shape and direction to every aspect of Ali’s life. His deep sense of integrity with the geography he has lived in since his childhood has been instrumental in establishing a life in connection with the Olive tree and the Earth. Ali works and produces with his family in the Kürşat family mill, which he undertakes the farming and production of Olive oil and table olives. Farming practices are guided by the respect and love of the olive tree and the natural ecosystems it hosts. Ali, who is also an olive oil taster, believes that correct and holistic agricultural practices contribute to both the taste and healing of olives and olive oil, and works with a deep love for the Earth.

Nowadays, Ali is accompanying his daughter Shira's growth in the loving awareness of the geography she lives in and the blessings of the Olive tree and loves to go fishing and preparing food harvested from the land.