The Turkish apple season has come to a close. One exporter that exports mainly to India, states they’ve managed to increase their volumes again this year and are aiming to increase their export numbers even further next year. The company has invested in new technology, to come out stronger with the ability to ship long shaped apples next year.
The last few ships are reaching the ports in India, finishing up the Turkish apple season, Alper Kerim, owner of Demir Fresh Fruits, explains: “We’ve reached the end of the Turkish apple season now. This means the last shipments will be arriving at the Indian ports in the next few days. Once we've tied up all the loose ends, we will start with our preparation for the next season, which will start near the end of August. As Demir Fresh Fruits, we’ve shipped 238 containers of apples to the Indian market in the 2020-2021 season. In this season, we managed to increase that number to 310 containers. For next year, our target will be to reach a minimum of 500 containers over the course of the season. This is achievable thanks to our new packing facility, which has the largest capacity in Turkey.”
Although there is quote some competition when it comes to the Indian market, Kerim states they have an advantage as DFF will still have apples in stock once the Iranian apple season ends. “When it comes to the most popular variety for the Indian market, the clear winner is Red Delicious. However, Fuji, Pink Lady and Granny Smith are also popular varieties among Indian consumers. Our main competitor for this region is Iran, but the apple stocks in Iran deplete earlier than ours, so we take advantage of that situation after March. We were the third biggest apple exporter to the Indian market this year.”
Demir Fresh Fruits has invested in new machines to reach their goal of increasing to 500 containers the next season: “We’re setting up our new packhouse and packing facility, of which the capacity is packing 8 containers of apples daily. This means we will be able to reach a minimum of 50 containers packed per week. We have made huge investments in this process and we’re excited to put it to use. We will have the latest system of packing in our facility and it will help us to remove any second-grade quality apples by sorting automatically with the Optiscan system. Colorization will be the exact percentage as per customer request. Next to this new technology, another milestone for our company, is that we’ll be able to ship long shaped apples, for which the demand is huge in the Indian market.” Kerim concludes.
For more information:
Alper Kerim
Demir Fresh Fruits
Tel: +90 532 514 2080
Email: alper@dff.com.tr
www.dff.com.tr