After having run a trial year in 2019, the Turkish cherries are now widely available in the Chinese market. According to one exporter, the quality of the Turkish cherries is the best it’s been in decades. And so demand is high, in several of the targeted countries.
It’s shaping up to be a solid cherry season for Turkish cherry exporter Alanar, says sales and marketing coordinator Yigit Gokyigit. “It’s been a really good season, so far. The quality is the best it’s been in last couple of decades here. We are getting demand from numerous new companies and most of them are from new markets. Even though the season just started two weeks ago, we already exported to new importers from all around the world. We are also glad that demand is increasing on our cherries on behalf of the top-end supermarket chains in Europe, Middle East and Asia.”
The Chinese market has become a top priority for Alanar, as they had their trial shipments last year: “We started exporting China last year. We called it a ‘trial’ year. This year demand is highly satisfying in the Chinese market, so China has become one of the key markets for us this year. Our Chinese customers find that the Alanar cherries meet the expectation of the Chinese consumer: big in size, crunchy and dark colored.” Gokyigit explains.
As more countries are opening up after the pandemic, one has to be extra careful while doing business. However, according to Gokyigit the pandemic itself has hardly had any impact on their season: “Covid-19 did not have an impactful effect on the cherry season. We have no issue on harvesting or packaging. As Alanar, we took quick and effective precautions on very early stage of the virus, so we are now able to run the season without any issue. We are also glad that with our new high-end technology cherry sorting machine, in addition, this year we are able to provide more sizes to our customers including the sizes 22+ 24+ 26+ 28+ 30+ and 32+.”
Gokyigit isn’t worried in the terms of logistics, as he feels they have their transport sorted out. However, far markets are harder to reach due to a limited amount of flights. “Alanar has a highly experienced and talented logistics team. It is same as any other year for truck based shipments to Europe. It’s challenging to make shipments to Asia and Americas at the moment for any exporter, because there are a limited number of flights. I believe we manage it well, so we haven’t had any issues so far.” He concludes.
For more information:
Yigit Gokyigit
Alanar
Mobile: +90 549 804 87 56
Email: yigit.gokyigit@alanar.com.tr
www.alanar.com.tr