Leyla Zubaroğlu: A Production Journey from Voluntary Labor to Fertile Gardens

Leyla Zubaroğlu is a woman, 47 years old, who has never tired of producing and working throughout her life, setting an example for her community with her perseverance. For 15 years, Leyla voluntarily carried out a spiritually demanding duty as a *gassal* (a person who washes the bodies of the deceased), while also transforming her handiwork into art through sewing and embroidery. However, her true transformation story began with a traditional recipe that her children loved: grape molasses, which she learned to make from an elderly neighbor.

From Coincidence to Commerce: A Regional Flavor Network Starting with a Single Jar

While boiling molasses for her own household, a passing woman’s request to buy some opened a new door for Leyla. Covering the cost of the grapes with her very first sale, Leyla rapidly increased her capacity due to the intense demand for her products, eventually reaching an annual production of 2 tons. Expanding her production range, she added natural products such as jams, laurel soap, vinegar, tomato/pepper paste, and pomegranate sour to her portfolio.

Combining traditional methods with pomegranates harvested from the orchards she rents, Leyla breathes life into the local economy with the support of her family and the female workers she employs from time to time.

“Leyla’s Garden”: A Bridge of Trust Extending from the Neighborhood to Cyprus

Leyla’s products did not just spread by word of mouth; they also moved into the digital world. Professionalizing her sales through the Instagram account @leylanin_bahcesii, Leyla is now an entrepreneur who ships  not only to her local community and out of town, but as far as Cyprus. Supporting her household, covering her children’s education expenses, and investing back into her business with the income she earns, Leyla successfully combines traditional production with modern marketing methods.

Technical Support: Independent Production and a New Source of Income

Previously, Leyla had to wait for machines that traveled from neighborhood to neighborhood for tomato/pepper paste production, occasionally facing the risk of her products spoiling. The paste-making machine support provided to her has now granted complete independence in her production process. No longer having to pay rent to outsiders, Leyla both accelerates her own production and earns additional income by processing her neighbors’ products thanks to this modern device. This increase in technical capacity has brought Leyla’s business into a much more efficient and profitable structure.