A Century Old Tradition

The name of the town I was born and grew up is "Zeytinliova" which literally means  "The Plain with Olive Trees" in Turkish, also known as the  "Oil Village" among the locals. As anyone else living in this little Aegean town situated in the middle of an olive ocean, my family has been making their living out of olive business for generations.

It is difficult to tell exactly when it started. All I know is when my both great grandfathers died in the World War I serving for The Ottoman Army, their sons, my grandfathers Bahri & Mehmet were toddlers playing in the olive orchards. They spent rest of their lives as hardworking olive farmers on their fathers` land. The Ozelia Estate which we proudly own today is a gift from them and their ancestors. 

After a happy childhood and early years of my youth in this little town, I ended up living in the large cities of Turkey and then in America. However, my heart had always remained in the Aegean. In time, it grew into a duty for me to go back one day and produce the best olive oils on earth from this land.  

"Ozelia" has been created wıth this desire and of course hard work of my wife Olcay, myself and our family members in Akhisar, whose every single moment enjoyed.    

Ozelia is pronounced as "Ozel Yag" in Turkish. As our brand name, we were looking for something to represent our family heritage and what we do. Searching up, we put the first syllables of our family name "Ozkan" and names of our daughters` Elif & Yagmur together and " Oz-El-Yag" came up. Call it Karma, but it literally means "Special Oil" in Turkish which happens to be the product we proudly offer you today !