The harvest of Turkish berries has been significantly delayed due to weather conditions.
Although the main focus is on the local market at the moment, lower domestic market prices are forcing Turkish growers to look to export opportunities, as prices are much better on the international market.
According to Turgut Aysan, chairman of the board of Turkish berry producer Safir Berry, who spoke to Freshplaza, the berry harvest in Turkey has been significantly delayed this season.
“This year we had a very concentrated harvest, due to the weather conditions we had during the winter. We had snow in Antalya following more than 30 years, we had hail, storms and frosts throughout the winter as well as in the spring. All this delayed the harvest by more than four weeks, Antalya growers started picking in May instead of late March or early April. Growers in mid-cooling zones started picking in June, just weeks following Antalya and growers in high-cooling zones started picking in June. The last harvest is almost complete. »
Most of the Turkish production was consumed mainly on the local market, the average price for producers was around 5 to 6 euros per kg. With the increase in production volumes and the concentration of the harvest, prices were significantly lower compared to previous years, prompting producers to focus on exports, especially in alternative markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore , Dubai, etc.
So watch out for Turkey, which for the moment is not interested in Europe, but may prove to be a major competitor in the future in this segment.
