To give itself a better position in the cherry industry, Goknur is focused on both increasing production as well as extending the season.
Ali Aslanali, general manager for Turkish fresh produce exporter Göknur, states they’re ready: “The Turkish cherry season is about to get started and for this year, We’re trying to both increase production as well as extend the production season, by including new areas and new later varieties to our cherry cultivation. The most important markets for us are Russia and the Far East. When looking at potential new markets to enter, we’re focusing on the European countries.”
Although Goknur has set its eyes on cultivating larger volumes, the growing of cherries also comes with a set of challenges, Aslanali explains. “One of the most important problems at harvest time is fruit cracking, caused by precipitation. It causes both fruit and labor losses. However, despite this challenge we do expect our volumes to increase by 20 per cent compared to the previous years.”
The weather as well as the shortage of available labor, are also problems that the Turkish fresh produce exporter needs to deal with. When it comes to the weather, it seems like the worst has already passed.
Aslanali states: “Another one of the larger problems of the cherry season is late spring frosts. For this year, this challenge seems to be behind us. We will try to eliminate the hail risk with the hail shield that we have set up in our garden. Finally, we’ll need to deal with the issue of fewer harvest workers being available. The solution would be to create seasonal worker agreements at the start of the season.”
For more information:
Göknur Gıda
Tel: +0090 0533 326 33 31
Email: sales3@goknur.com.tr
www.goknur.com.tr