The cherry season in Greece has been good despite lower demand, says Levent Sadik Ahmet, CEO of cherry packer Yaka IKE: “We had quite a successful cherry season in 2022, although the global markets were reluctant and demand was lower compared to previous years. Our important markets in central Europe are stable. However, we’ve also made trials in new markets and will will start shipping to these markets with an organized schedule next season. The lower demand for cherries in the local market was definitely a challenge for us. We believe this lower demand will remain present for a couple of years, due to global inflation and economic situations in all countries. Despite that, we aim to increase our tonnage of cherries by widening our customer portfolio and entering in new markets, while establishing our quality oriented practices as they are in cherries with other fresh fruits.”
© YAKA Cherry Packing & Sorting
Ahmet feels that the fact they focus on quality has kept them with the frontrunners. And for the coming year, diversifying their range is one of the main goals for Yaka, he explains. “We are a 100% quality oriented company. We have the highest scores in certifications like IFS (100%), BRC (AA) and we prove our quality in practice with our cherries and our services by cooperating with the largest supermarket chains in Europe. This path, we believe made us overcome these challenges and difficulties of lower demand the last season and we believe it‘ll help us to overcome similar ones in the upcoming seasons. Besides this quality orientation, we invested in widening our product range and this coming season we are prepared to provide our customers with other fruits like apricots, grapes, pomegranates and kiwis. This will make us more resistant to any future challenges. We already have modern infrastructures and machinery in place in our facilities.”
The Greek cherry packer has lots of ambition, as it strives to be the largest blueberry exporter in Greece within a couple of years: “We increased our machinery capacity two years ago. The significant investment by us was towards cultivation, where we invested in blueberries. We created the largest blueberry farm in Greece and the entire farm is also certified as organic. In the next couple of years we’ll be the largest blueberry exporter in Greece. Our significant investment in blueberry cultivation and widening product portfolio are our largest openings since our founding. Our blueberry cultivation is also a big challenge for us because we are the first in our region to try it. We also provide all the necessary knowledge and supplies to local farmers in order that they may invest too, because it’s very profitable for the future,” Ahmet concludes.
For more information:
Levent Sadik Ahmet
YAKA Cherry Packing & Sorting
Tel: +30 2531082800
Mob: +30 6946759739
Email: [email protected]
www.yaka.gr
