In 2021, Iclal and Tolga had the courage to change their ways and start a new adventure in the world of oil by purchasing an olive grove in the coastal mountains of the Aegean in the Milas region of Turkey. From that first choice, Goldere Ltd. was born, today a small producer of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, which has grown thanks to the investment in a modern pressing line.
Their oil is marketed under the Funoli brand, which has won awards in major international competitions in recent years and can boast the PDO designation ‘Milas Zeytinyağı’. With backgrounds as designers and engineers, Iclal and Tolga brought technical expertise and design spirit to the project. In the beginning, aware that they were new to the industry, they devoted great energy to studying the most modern practices for producing quality oil. They needed curiosity, but also courage to enter an ancient and complex world like olive growing. With time, this knowledge also became a sharing tool: they started to collaborate with other olive growers in the area, encouraging them to better manage their olive groves and to anticipate the harvest.
This is how a close bond was forged with like-minded producers, and today they process their olives alongside those of their partner farmers. The Milas region has been a centre of agriculture and trade for millennia, with a rich cultural heritage. It is dominated by the Memecik variety, an ancient cultivar grafted from wild olive trees that grow wild in the area. Amidst mountains, pine forests and extraordinary biodiversity, millions of Memecik trees shape the landscape. It is from this ecosystem that Iclal and Tolga strive to obtain extra virgin oils of the highest quality, with minimal use of natural resources and low environmental impact. Year after year, their goal remains the same: to improve, harvest after harvest, continuing with passion and courage to explore the full potential of this extraordinary variety.