The pomegranate season in Turkey is about to come to an end. The weather had caused volumes to be a bit lower, said Ali Aslanali, general manager for Turkish fresh produce exporter Göknur.
“This pomegranate season has been a very productive one for us. As a company, we have the largest organic pomegranate farmland in Turkey. We produced nearly five tons of organic pomegranates this year. We don’t just cultivate organic pomegranates though, but also grow conventional ones, which were successfully shipped to our clients. Overall, our yield was 15 per cent lower this year, as climatic conditions weren’t ideal this year.”
Göknur will have to increase its pomegranate production in the coming seasons, as demand from existing clients increase, Aslanali explains: “Demand for pomegranates is increasing every year, we’ve noticed. As customers see the quality of Turkish products, they increase their orders the next time. To meet this growing demand, we’re increasing our production significantly for future harvests. Our pomegranates were mostly shipped to the European market, but we also exported them to Canada.”
Aslanali feels the biggest challenges are ones that exporters will have to accept, as nothing can be done to change them at the moment. “Not everything went as smooth as we’d hoped this season, as we still have to deal with high freight costs, and the issues at the Bulgarian Customs have provided exporters with a lot of headaches. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to these challenges and we’ll just have to deal with them. They don’t just affect us, but also other fresh produce exporters. We’re headed into the end of the season, so the availability of Turkish pomegranates is decreasing. As a result, the price for pomegranates is increasing,” he concludes.
For more information:
Ali Aslanali
Göknur
Tel: + 0324 237 57 49
Email: aliaslanali@goknur.com.tr
sales3@goknur.com.tr
www.goknur.com.tr