Much is expected from this year’s fig season in Turkey. According to Coskun Eren, marketing manager for Turkish fresh produce exporter Eren, volumes are plentiful and everyone is ready to start the season: “We expect an excellent season this year. So far the crop is good, albeit a bit delayed. Prices are expected to be similar to last year, if the crop continues to grow, they could even be slightly lower, which is a good thing for the exporter. In the fig market, it is important to work with a long-term program, because the harvest timeframe of the fruit is rather narrow. Once the fruit is ready, you must harvest it within a day or two, or it will fall off the tree. But when you have a program, you know what you need that week, so you can manage the harvest-storage operation much better. We encourage the importers to work with long-term programs and start the talks early on, this week is a good time!”
Despite the delay, the season is looking alright. However, Eren emphasizes this can change at any point, as figs are unpredictable as a fruit. “This year the season started with a bit of a delay. The early Mersin region started two weeks later than last year, the later Bursa and Aydın regions are expected to be delayed by 7-10 days as well. We have already started this week and expect the season to last until mid-October. So, the Mersin region figs are available now, the Aydın region figs are expected to kick off at the end of July, and Bursa Black figs are expected to start around 20 to 25 August. The volumes are better this year, at least for now. With figs, it is very hard to know. Everything can be perfect and in the last week, you can lose 40% of the harvest, due to a hot day or two alone. This is a very unpredictable fruit. If things don't change drastically in terms of weather in the coming months, we’ll have an excellent season.”
Thanks to the large harvest, prices will be lower this season. This in turn will lead to more demand from consumers, Eren thinks: “Demand will be good because the of the figs’ quality. Since volumes are high, prices will also be lower which again leads to better demand. This is kind of paradoxical because since there are lots of fruit you expect too much to go around, but I believe when the fruit is plentiful, people who don't usually buy fruit also get in the market and that is what is driving the demand. Eren usually sells figs to the EU, Russia, Far East, and North America markets as well as some Africa, albeit not much. This wide range of markets means we don't have much room to expand in terms of new markets, but can expand with more volume in our current markets.”
Although Turkey will have to compete with other fig producing countries, Eren feels that each origin has unique features and therefore appeal to different tastes. “Our biggest competitor abroad is obviously the Greek fig, then later Mexican figs come into play, and later on other coastal European countries. Fig is a fruit that doesn't have a lot of competition, because each country's figs are very different from each other. It also doesn't have an alternative. You can probably eat nectarines instead of peaches or apples and you would be set, but nothing comes close to figs in that regard. They are unique in terms of taste and sensation. Bursa Black is the famous Turkish variety and I believe it is unmatched anywhere in the world. So our biggest competition again comes from Turkey, and Eren is ready for it! We have 10+ years of experience in the fig business and offer a wide range of packaging options as well as well-timed international deliveries to a wide range of markets. We have the capabilities to fulfill big retail programs and have the necessary certifications for their requirements.”
For more information:
Coskun Eren
Eren
Tel: +90 533 695 5802
Email: [email protected]
www.freshanatolia.com
