The Turkish season for stone fruit started on the 29th of April with apricots and later with nectarines and peaches. The harvest was early and was able to take advantage of a market that from the start already showed a lot of activity. According to Gorkem Sengel of Narpak, the production volume is better than last year. “Last year we produced 10,000 tons of stone fruit, but this year that volume increased to 12,000 tons. We’re exporting about three trucks of fruit on a daily basis.”The varieties that Narpak produces are Mogador, Rambler, Colorado and Luca. The Luca variety is strictly meant for the Turkish market, while the others are both sold in Turkey and on the world market. According to Sengel, the varieties that Narpak markets are quite different from the ones that are available from the domestic competition.
“We’re still quite new in the export business. This is our third year for producing stone fruit. In the first year, the volumes were still limited, while in this year and in the previous year we started exporting our fruit.”
Narpak supplies to Russia, the Far East and Middle-Eastern countries like Saudi-Arabia and Dubai. The share of export for Russia amounts up to 30% of the total production volume.
Though the Russian embargo for Turkish produce used to be a problem, the bilateral relationships between the two countries have greatly improved. “You’d suppose it would be hard to make a comeback on the Russian market, but it really wasn’t. We now have more Russian customers than before the embargo.”
The Middle Eastern market is still new for the company. They supply to local importers by sending about two to three weekly containers of stone fruit to Saudi-Arabia. It has also developed its business in South East Asia.
The prices for Turkish stone fruit have increased when compared to last year. Though it’s still too early to tell how this season is going to turn out, the improved relationship with Russia is a definite advantage over competing countries like Greece and Spain. “Admittedly, Spanish stone fruit is of better quality. However, Spain is still unable to export to Russia due to the trade ban. Our main competition for the Russian market comes from other Turkish companies.
In last couple of years, Narpak’s strategy came down to widening its field of commerce. The company produces several different types of fruit aimed at an increasing amount of international markets. “The strategy for this year is going to be the same. We don’t want to work with just one market, because if there is a problem with that market it will cause problems for us as well.”
Sengel added that the biggest challenge for Narpak is logistics. “It’s hard to find trucks and containers for our volumes to Russia. Everybody seems to be busy.”
For more information:
Gorkem Sengel
Narpak (Turkey)
Tel: +90 324 454 10 23
Fax: +90 324 454 10 20
Mobile: 0090 530 548 38 84
Skype: gorkem.sengel
Email: gorkemsengel@narpak.com.tr
Web: www.narpak.com.tr