There is much to update you on for Korsan and Kalkan
As we are all aware the last two seasons have been on the difficult side…having said that last season was a much better season than the one before. If you take the month of August last season as an example, Korsan Meze was 20% up on 2016 but still 5% down on 2015. I think it is safe to say that this would have been the trend across the board for most establishments in Kalkan, apart from maybe a few exceptions.
The tour operators who we work closely with, i.e., Simpson Travel, İlios Holidays and Fairlight Jones are happy with the volume of bookings for Turkey already in the bag and are confident for the season ahead.
As always we are continuing to improve and invest where we can. An investment of interest to all our villa owners is the renewal of our machinery at Korsan’s launderette. Miele is the leader for industrial laundry goods and we now have three Miele state of the art washing machines and an industrial sized drier. Our new equipment is more environmentally friendly than before and more gentle on linen and towels as the duration of the wash is much shorter due to Miele’s patented new technology.
Korsan’s more exciting new investment is the purchase of Tosunlar Olive Oil Press and our expansion into the olive oil business. We are having a fantastic olive harvest this year and Tosunlar is busy working with local farmers to press their olives. We are producing a number of products which will be available in selected shops in Kalkan, Kas and Fethiye …. look out for Virgin, Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed Oil and our premium product: Hand Pressed Olive Oil with olives picked and pressed on the same day. Talks and plans are in the pipeline to export some of these products to Norway and Tunisia!
ko.co and it’s bespoke ice cream was a hit last year which has encouraged us to pursue Korsan Turkish Delight. The first few experiments have passed the initial Bilgütay taste test! Hopefully I will have time to put my chef’s hat on coming in the New Year, so who knows what other delicious surprises might be on various Korsan menus.
There is more news and developments but I am being told to keep it short and sweet!
We are spending Christmas in the UK this year, enjoying the sights of London and hence a Korsan T-shirt can be spotted outside its natural habitat!!
I hope we will all have a great Christmas and I wish everyone a prosperous and peaceful year ahead.
Uluç Bilgütay