"Chile is one of Turkey's main suppliers of many fresh fruits," said Özge Tüysüzoglu, Chile's commercial attaché in Turkey, during a conversation with SimFRUIT.
According to her, the Turkish market imports a lot of fruits, such as apples, pears, kiwis, blueberries, and avocados. "Turkey imports these five products from South America, especially from Chile because of the tariff advantages that the free trade agreement between these countries grants them," said Tuysuzoglu.
She also spoke about Turkey's potential for Chilean fresh fruit: "this is a market that offers very good opportunities for our fresh fruits, so we shouldn't neglect it, as we are doing with our blueberries. Until 2016, Turkey imported 25% of it blueberries from Chile, however this figure has been declining, due to a decrease in Chilean blueberry exports. As a result, other countries have been able to increase their shipments."
"Blueberries are a niche product in Turkey, they are sold in 250 gram boxes that can cost $5. Therefore, they're only purchased by a segment of the population," she added.
Another important product, due to its increasing consumption trend, is the avocado. "So far, Turkey exported more Fuerte avocado, because they considered that the black avocados were bad, in other words, they didn't consider that the Hass avocados were suitable for consumption. Now, wholesalers and retail channels are investing in promotions and tastings to educate consumers, which could be exploited by Chile and our avocados, as they also enjoys tariff advantages."
Özge Tüysüzoglu said that the South American countries that export avocado to Turkey have to pay a 45% tariff, while the Chilean avocado only pay half of that, i.e. 22.5%. "Most of our fresh produce has a 50% to 100% tariff reduction," she stressed.
According to data from ASOEX, during 2015-2016, Chile exported to Turkey more than 500 tons of fresh fruits, mainly of kiwifruit, apples, and table grapes.
Nuts
Turkey is currently the main target market for Chilean nuts. In 2016, Chile exported over 22 thousand tons of in shell nuts to Turkey, i.e. more than 3% more than in the previous year.
"Chile is well known in the dried fruits industry as a supplier of good quality. Chile exports more than 60% of its in shell nuts to this market. In 2016 Turkish imports of Chilean nuts decreased because of the weather problems that affected the production and quality of the product. However, we believe that Chile will regain its export levels this year, because Turkey needs Chilean nuts. First, because this product's high consumption is rooted in the country's food culture, and also because people consume them in different celebrations, such as Ramadam," she said.
Tuysuzoglu said that nut exports still had opportunities for growth in this market because "there's so much interest in consuming this product that Turkey is investing significantly in the nuts sector. They're even giving incentives to those who cultivate it. Their goal is to have a stronger local production within the next 5 to 6 years, which might lead to a small decrease in import, but this remains to be seen. The truth is that in the 2015-2016 season, Turkey imported 55 million dollars in Chilean nuts, and that we believe this figure will increase this campaign, because Turkey normally imports about $90 million dollars in nuts. The United States, which is the first supplier of nuts in Turkey, exports close to $200 million dollars to this market, not because the Turkish prefer their product over the Chilean nuts, but because they have a bigger production and make more shipments," she said.
In 2015 Turkey's consumption expenditure amounted to 520.137 million USD. Food, housing, and transportation account for 57%. Food expenditure represents 20% of the total expenditure. Fruits and vegetables account for 6% of total spending.
Source: SimFRUIT