FROM ADNAN KAYA'S COLUMN IN HÜRRİYET EGE

PORTRAIT
Olive oil flows from this stream!

BURCU Çoban and Tolga Coşkun are actually two actors who graduated from a conservatory.
After resigning from Istanbul City Theaters a few years ago, they decided to continue their careers in voice acting and television acting.
However, after a while, the demands of the profession became intertwined with the difficulties of big city life, and they found themselves in search of something new.
They didn't want to leave their jobs, but they also needed a space where they could breathe.
While they were wondering "What can we do?", a long-held dream of Ms. Burcu's father came up again at a family dinner, and that's when an idea struck.

"THE FIRST STEP IS EDUCATION," THEY SAID.

Ibrahim Çoban completed his 40-year career as a police chief, and Emine Çoban completed her 26-year career as a midwife. After retirement, they began to dedicate more time to Güzeltepe village in Söke, Aydın, where they were born and raised, and to the olive groves inherited from their ancestors.
Burcu and Tolga, whose different stories brought them together to form a family, had now found yet another meeting place: Zeytin...
From the very first day they decided to embark on this journey, they knew very well that the most important part of the job was 'training'.
Yes, they had accumulated knowledge about olives from their parents' past.
However, some of this needed to be changed, improved, or developed in light of academic knowledge.
Burcu and Tolga, on the other hand, had nothing related to olives, soil, or trees except for childhood memories of the city.
At this point, they divided the tasks among themselves.
They would be responsible for the training and branding process, their parents for the field, i.e., the production side, their older brother Mehmet Çoban for the company's financial management, and his wife Emel Yavuz Çoban for financial affairs.

THEY HAD THE MOST DIFFICULTY WITH THE DESIGN.

Burcu and Tolga immediately joined the tasting training sessions of the Olive Oil Lovers Association.
They not only received tasting certificates, but also met amazing people who are experts in their fields and incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge.
When it came to choosing a name for their business brand, they settled on 'Yağderesi'.
Burcu Çoban says:
“We chose ‘Yağderesi’ ​​as our brand because:
Our village has been home to many civilizations before us, and it's the place where my parents processed olives in their childhood.
It's certainly not in use right now.
One of our long-term goals is to preserve the area and the remaining materials, thus making it a part of village life again.
'I can say that the design phase was the most challenging stage for us.'
Because of our professions, we knew how difficult it could be to find common ground in projects involving design and creation, but it seemed even harder than we anticipated.
We changed designers three times in total.
This resulted in both a loss of money and time for us.
There's a world of difference between the design we had in mind on the first day and what we have today.
But it was definitely a result we were happy with.
It was tough, but it was worth it.
The feedback we've received so far has all been positive, confirming our position..."

A SILVER MEDAL WAS WON IN THE FIRST YEAR.

So, how do they produce it?
Ms. Burcu explains:
“We harvest and pack our Memecik variety olives, known for their high antioxidant content and fruitiness, grown on our centuries-old trees, using modern methods.”
Not a single one that falls on the floor ends up in these boxes.
We press them using the cold-pressing method on the same day, without any chemical processing.
Our oil, protected from air, heat, humidity, and light in nitrogen-infused chrome tanks, rests for approximately two months before being bottled upon order and delivered to our customers.
This production and storage method earned us a silver medal in our first year of professional production.
One of our goals this year is to participate in international competitions held in other countries and return with better results.”

THEY TRAVEL BETWEEN SOKE AND ISTANBUL.

Once they delved into it, they realized they had never truly achieved a genuine connection with nature.
What began as a quest gradually transformed into passion and immense happiness.
In fact, the 'division of labor' they had initially established no longer exists.
They found themselves either constantly working in the olive groves or trying to escape to the village whenever they had the chance.
Because they realized that the peace provided by trees, the soil, and especially olive trees, is actually a necessity.
Now they spend their lives constantly between Söke and Istanbul.
If necessary, they would fly in at midnight to participate in the olive harvest and return to the set in Istanbul early the next morning.
"Although it can be very tiring at times, this job is incredibly enjoyable, brings happiness and excitement," they say.
Naturally, their problems are no longer just about olives.
They believe that the improvement of humanity, especially in our society, can only be achieved through a return to villages and production.
"When we can get the school in our village up and running again, when we can have a health center, when we can have the opportunity to pass on our culture to others, when we can open our own facility and create employment in the village, when we can organize art festivals and celebrations, when we can restore everything from the fountain to the newly built houses to their original state, when the village grocery store starts operating again, when we can establish a cooperative, then some of our goals will have been achieved," they add.