Tayga İyi Gıda (Tayga Good Food), registered brand of Manahan Gıda Ltd, is dedicated to offering health and food enthusiasts the Turkish Aegean region's outstanding olive oils while adopting the four principles of the Good Food concept: a healthy diet, sustainable production, fair cultivation practices and affordable pricing.

Our Terroir

Tayga’s awarded olive oil is crafted from Memecik, the native olive variety of the Turkish South Aegean which is renowned for herbal aromas. A minor contribution comes from wild olives.
The olive groves are in various locations and altitudes at the forests of the Bozdaglar mountain range. -Hence our name, Tayga, which means a mountain covered by forests in ancient Turkish.- These mountains stand above the Plain of Küçük Menderes (the Little Meander), one of the most productive soils of the old world and the motherland to grand civilizations of the antiquity such as Metropolis and Ephesus. Olives have been cultivated here for thousands of years. 

The slopes are clad with olive trees, while the market towns of Bayındır and Tire quietly spread below. In the fortunate absence of polluting industries, the region's economy depends on agriculture. Bayındır is renowned for a flower industry made possible by its favourable microclimate. Bayındır also happens to have one of Turkey's highest density of olive trees, and olive oil is pivotal for its people.

The mountain slopes mean that most of our olive trees are largely at nature’s hands, watered by the rain and picked up manually, allowing limited human intervention. However, traditional harvesting is followed by a state-of-the-art process.

Production

Fruits are picked by manual labour and sent to the extraction mill in a few hours. After visual control, all-healthy fruits are immediately crushed by a two phase -thus environment friendly- continuous system.  Only decanter is used for separation in order to better preserve health and aroma components of the oil. The process is carried out by cold extraction throughout and the oil is immediately filtered to preserve its quality for longer. Finally, the oils are stored in chrome-steel tanks under inert gas, therefore protecting from the deteriorating effects of air, light and heat.
Only mechanical processing of olives: No chemicals, enzymes or other additives are used during entire production.  

Harvest period

Late October to early December. This is when Memecik olives are green or green with shades of purple at the high altitudes. The oil yield is low at this stage (more olives needed to produce oil), however it provides the optimum balance between phenolic compounds (healthy antioxidants) and delicious aromas.

Packaging

In dark bottles to avoid light and oxygen. With safety closure preventing contagion and fraud. With these closures, you can also carry opened bottles without any spilling.

Our awards since 2018

Our olive oil was listed among the top olive oils worldwide in 2019 by EVOO World Ranking and was granted an “EVOO of the Year” badge.  Its awards since 2018:
EVO IOOC – Italy: 2020 Gold, 2019 Gold, 2018 Silver
Terraolivo – Israel: 2019 Gold, 2018 Prestige Gold
Olive Japan – Japan: 2019 Silver, 2018 Silver
London IOOC – UK: 2018 Silver
Olivinus – Argentina: 2019 Gold
Los Angeles IOOC: 2020 Bronze

Sensory notes and use
Olive harvest is done once a year, so each year the nature gives us a unique taste with slight variations, like wine. Our olive oil typically has aromas of fresh almonds, green herbs and other minor notes varying from harvest to harvest.  Its mild bitterness sensed on the tongue and its medium pungency gently striking the throat are signs of its high antioxidant content. It is a balanced olive oil bridging health benefits with culinary concerns, suitable for Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern cuisine, salads - or simply as dipping sauce!

In previous years, our mid-harvest olive oil has won silver and gold medals in EVO IOOC, the prestigious international olive oil quality competition, and was featured in the 2018 and 2019 editions of “EVO IOOC Guide-Buyers Edition” as follows.

• Tasting notes in the 2018 edition: “This EVOO displaying a clean and persistent medium ripe fruitiness with evident notes of ripe tomato, fresh almond, mint, balsamic and grass. Delicate intensity of pungency and bitter taste, with sensation of aragula and chicory.”
• Tasting notes in the 2019 edition: EVOO is characterized by a medium harmonious green fruitiness with an optimum balance between notes of fresh almond, green apple, cut grass and balsamic notes. A good fresh vibrant palate, bitter and pungent are medium, with chicory in the final.

Tayga Good Food will continue to work for the mountains of Izmir to find their deserved place in the olive oil atlas of taste.

Bon appetite!