Sultanas and raisins from Salihli and Tekelioglu: sweet fruits from the "Sultana Land"

In Western Turkey near the city of Izmir lies the Salihli region with its typical Mediterranean climate. This region is also referred to as „sultana land“. This is where Rapunzel procures all the sultanas and raisins for various products.

Here, about 30 farming families successfully cultivate organic sultanas, tomatoes, cotton, peppers, wheat, barley and several other crops in different Rapunzel village projects.

The sun-dried sultanas are brought from Salihli to Ören for further processing. In Ören pits and stems are removed from the berries on vibrating sieves and sub-standard, small berries are sorted out.

After rinsing, the berries are gently dried and treated with organic sunflower oil in order to prevent the fruits from sticking together. In the final processing step, the berries are sorted once more by hand and inspected.