Economizing chemical compounds: The production of qualities in Turkish olive oil

Producers in many sectors, including food, are seeking to convert chemical compounds into value. Turkey is in the midst of a ‘quality turn’ in its olive oil sector, as producers seek ways to capture value through what I describe here as processes of qualification. Based on fieldwork with olive oil producers and others in the sector in Turkey, I show how the qualities of ‘high-quality’ olive oil are made through labour, technique and technology, remaking the chemistry of the oil. The work of stabilizing and standardizing the experiences of taste and smell to align with international norms involves harvesters, producers, laboratories, international standards, terminologies, infrastructures, equipment, and consumers. Such oil is relatively unfamiliar in Turkey, however, necessitating the formation of a market for it through the economization of its qualities.