ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s citrus exports, currently robust, could expand significantly as Turkish citrus becomes known worldwide as a quality product, an industry group has said.
Citrus Promotion Group, an organization for the promotion of Turkish citrus in the domestic and international markets, provided figures on Turkey’s citrus exports while attending last week’s tangerine festival in Seferihisar, İzmir.
Speaking at the festival, the group’s co-chairman, Mustafa Türkmenoğlu, said that Turkey’s total annual citrus cultivation was 2.6 million. “The sector is the mainstay of a total of 5 million people living in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions, directly or indirectly,” he noted.
Pointing out that only one-third of Turkey’s total citrus cultivation was exported, Türkmenoğlu said that the promotion group aimed to increase citrus exports, which were around $802 million in 2009, to over $1 billion.
“We established the Citrus Promotion Group after citrus prices fell sharply due to an abundance of yield and some fruits were not even consumed in the domestic market and went to waste. We want to increase the local and foreign demand for citrus fruits. We also want to be able to highlight the concept of ‘Made In Turkey’ and to turn it into a brand,” he said.
Türkmenoğlu said that after airing TV commercials aiming the Russian market, they attracted much interest; they recently decided to continue with their promotional studies in additional countries.
He added that the group has already attended many important promotional events in Turkey and abroad thanks to contributions from fresh fruit and vegetable exporters’ unions in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Sea regions and in provinces like Istanbul, Antalya and Bursa.