Fortunately, the impact has been reduced for the firm, as plenty of the fruit had been harvested a week before the frost as part of this year’s strategy. “We still have some quantities in the orchards, but Lamas lemons, Mandora mandarins and grapefruit have not been affected because they are strong enough to withstand it,” affirms Hakan Baydar.
Değirmenciler exports around 40,000 tonnes of citrus fruits per season. The impact on this will reduce exports by 5% for the company, but not only as a result of the frost, “but mostly due to the economic situation with Russia, as despite good prospects, shipments didn’t increase because of the Rouble exchange rate issue.”
For Turkish producers as a whole, Hakan Baydar believes that the situation may benefit growers with good quality stocks, but the market could also be negatively affected, as some growers may try to sell lower quality goods. “Clients will have to look for the right supplier in order to buy the right fruit at a good price,” affirms Hakan Baydar.
Impact on vegetables
Products such as Chinese and white cabbage or squash have been hit, according to Hakan Baydar, while tomatoes and cucumbers, mostly grown in greenhouses in Anatolia, are not as affected, even though cold temperatures will cause a drop in productivity.
The company
Değirmenciler exports mostly to Europe and is one of the largest supplies for Kaufland supermarkets in Germany. Some other of its main markets are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Italy and South Africa, and it also ships smaller volumes to other countries. “For the past three years, our company has grown by around 60%, and this year this will be reduced to around 10-15%, as fruit trade has decreased,” explains Hakan Baydar.
Regarding the possibility of branching out into Asia, namely the Middle East, Hakan Baydar says that this destination, despite it being a very good market in terms of prices, has a potential for very low quantities. “Sometimes we load about 50 containers per day to Russia (10,000 tonnes the entire season), while to the Middle East we load a maximum of 1 container per client per week.”
Citrus shipments to Russia, in any case, have not significantly changed as a result of the ban, although according to Hakan Baydar, “they started demanding different fruit varieties from us, like bananas, kiwis or apples, or vegetables, like Chinese cabbage. We have, however, not been able to load as much as they demanded due to the weather conditions.”
For more information:
Hakan Baydar
Degirmenciler Citrus CO.&Packing House
Tel: + (90) 324 646 42 00
Mob: + (90) 533 736 71 14
info@degirmenciler.com
www.degirmenciler.com