Turkey has the potential to become one of the powerhouses in blueberry cultivation, says a Turkish berry producer. This year the company is focusing on the local market, but as acreage and production increase this year, 2023 should be a solid export year for Turkey.
Turgut Aysan, Chairman of the Board at Turkish berry producer Safir Berry, states that blueberry cultivation in Turkey up and coming: “As Safir Berry we started the ‘Turkey Blueberry Project’ in 2020 and established our orchards in Antalya and Manisa in 2021. Together with the investments of our fellow growers/investors in 2021, Turkey doubled its production surface for blueberries to 200-250 hectares. Due to the increasing interest by large growers and investors, we believe Turkey will be one of the major suppliers in the blueberry market with a production surface of more than 5,000 hectares and a production of 100,000 tons of berries within the next five to ten years. We’ve already received interest from major supermarket chains in Europe and our main market will be the expanding European market; the UK, Germany, Austria, Benelux, France, Scandinavia, etc. But Turkey also has the logistical advantage to easily access the Gulf countries, Russia and even Far Eastern markets with one-flight air cargo.”
Although production is still quite small right now, Aysan sees the potential for Turkey to become a true powerhouse in blueberry exports. “The production in Turkey will not be limited to blueberries, we will complete our project with raspberry and blackberry varieties. In 2022 we will have limited production, as Safir Berry our harvest projection is 60-70 tons, which will be adequate only for the local market. However, production and export volumes will increase very rapidly in the near future. We hope to reach 1,000 tons of exports in 2023, as a country.”
Changing climate conditions are becoming a reality for Turkish fruit producers, as was proven by the snowfall in Antalya, Aysan explains: “This winter was extremely cold, we had snowfall in Antalya, which is in southern Turkey. It was the first snowfall in 25 years, and it will delay the harvest to end of March. However, Turkey has the potential to harvest starting from January until October. As Safir Berry, we managed to start harvest in February in our tunnel in Antalya with patented trial varieties. The forecast is that we will have more and more extreme weather events all around Turkey and we’ll need to adapt to this new reality quickly. Turkish growers will take all the necessary precautions to avoid any loss of produce. Most of the blueberry production will be under sturdy plastic tunnels and modern greenhouses.”
For this year, the focus is on the local market and Aysan states that with the current level of blueberry production in Turkey, there’s not a lot of difference between local prices and export prices: “The demand for blueberries as one of the healthiest options in the market is constantly increasing. People all over the world are including berries to their daily diet. The local demand is low in comparison with traditional crops like cherries, stone fruits and such, due to high prices, but especially in big cities the consumption of berries is increasing. At the moment the prices in the local market are just as high as they are in the international market, as a result most of the berries produced in Turkey are consumed in the local market. Once the production volumes increase and the prices in Turkey start to decline, export to international markets will become more and more important.”
For more information:
Turgut Aysan
Safir Berry
Tel: +90 532 3610 403.
Email: turguta@safirberry.com
www.safirberry.com