The weather in Turkey has been similar to the weather last year in the cultivation areas for Bursa Black Figs, says Ceyhun Gündüz, general manager of Turkish black fig exporter Alya: “We’ve seen similar difficult weather conditions in Turkey this season compared to last year. It's been a hard winter. We did achieve a larger volume in the Bursa black figs, thanks to the production of our growers groups and our family last year. The success of our company in seasons with faster movement and low volume has shown us that we’re not affected by lower harvests. Last season, we managed to do all the programs by performing more volume compared to all the seasons before it, providing a lot of service to all of our customers.”
Despite climate change, Gündüz expects volumes to be high this season, as they were last year. “Climate change is becoming really alarming, not only in Turkey, but all over the world. Climatic conditions always affect the production quantities at the highest level. Scientifically, the world has the ability to renew itself. This will have certain consequences. Currently, the cold weather can still affect the trees, but we think we‘ll have a similar season to last year. As a company, we’re already seeing that we will have more volume when providing services for new markets.”
According to Gündüz, the total production for Bursa Black Figs is increasing: “When we observed the last four years, it was pleasing to see that the increasing production quantities and volume caught up with each other in terms of sales. The fact that supply the increased demand is a positive development. Although, sometimes there is periodic intensive production depending on weather conditions, it can continue all season without any harvest jams and packaging jams. This is a big advantage. So actually the demand is increasing every day.”
“Currently, our target markets are the Far East, Middle East, Canada and South African countries. We are already operating in many of these regions. We operate in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, Mauritius, Johannesburg, Seychelles, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Canada and a few European countries. I think the slowdown in terms of demand in the European market is too high. As consumers have less to spend, demand decreases. This is usually a directly related issue to the situation in Turkey. When you completely deal with the costs, you are programming the right process. The supermarket groups we are planning for the European market can be found in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, France and Poland.”
Gündüz feels that one of the major advantages Alya has over the competition is the fact they transport the highest volumes via air transport. “We know that we are a few steps ahead of our competitors in terms of air transportation. Because we are the company with the highest volume. This already proves our ability to act quickly and that our team is very experienced in this regard. Experience and adaptability are very important in the air transportation sector.”
Another advantage that Gündüz feels puts his company ahead, is the fact his family has grown the figs for five generations: “The fact that our family is a grower has big advantages. The purchasing power that is on the growers, the big time that is on and reserved for the growers, and others. Our family has been a black fig orchard grower in Bursa for five generations and actually has a say in the region as a large grower. Being a grower in the region and having a large production amount by our family, gives us a great advantage in ensuring both reliability and continuity at the point of purchase. Due to the fact that we operate in many remote countries, we use transfers by plane as much as possible. In this case, it makes us the largest air cargo exporter of Turkey.”
For more information:
Ceyhun Gündüz
Alya
Mobile : +90 537 726 02 05
Tel: +90 224 211 50 50
Email: ceyhungunduz@alaalya.com.tr
https://www.alaalya.com.tr/index.html