Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports Rose 21% During the Pandemic

Turkchem 09 Feb 2021 55 4 dk okuma

TURKCHEM

Ege Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Chairman Hayrettin UÇAK spoke about pandemic period exports as follows;

During the pandemic period, our fresh fruit and vegetable exports rose to USD 2.731 billion with a 21% increase, while fruit and vegetable product exports reached USD 1.683 billion with an 8% increase. In the fresh fruit and vegetable and fruit and vegetable product sectors, we are targeting to increase our exports from USD 4.414 billion in 2020 to USD 5 billion in 2021. Both the world and our country are going through an extraordinary period and we are still experiencing the second phase of the pandemic. However, I can say we have left the most difficult period behind. We continue our struggle and, by acting with maximum care and diligence, we continue to live a life close to normal. I believe that our country's agricultural sector managed to turn this period into a significant advantage, also with the contribution of the measures taken in the past March-May months. In our exports, we achieved increases of 25-35% in some agricultural and food sectors. Countries like ours that are agricultural product producers and net exporters managed to keep their agricultural sectors afloat at certain levels despite all adversities. Regarding our products and harvest conditions, we had a very good year with cherries and our harvest was very good, as a result we set a record with USD 223 million in exports. Our table grapes season also went very well, we experienced no problems either in quality or quantity of harvest. We are in the citrus season. As an association, we jointly carried out a citrus harvest assessment project with the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute that provides a significant forecasting advantage to our citrus producers and exporters, and with a realistic estimate we made in the Aegean Region, we provided guidance to our exporters. Apart from oranges, we do not expect a decline in any product, whether in fresh fruits and vegetables or in our processed products, this year despite the pandemic we are experiencing a good harvest and production year.

In 2020, we achieved a 21% increase in Turkey's fresh fruit and vegetable exports compared to 2019 and demonstrated the success of achieving USD 2.731 billion in exports. In fruit and vegetable products, we again achieved an 8% increase compared to the same period in the previous year, resulting in USD 1.683 billion in export revenue. Our two main sectors' total exports reached USD 4.414 billion. In 2021, we are targeting to exceed USD 5 billion in export revenue in the fresh fruit and vegetable and fruit and vegetable product sectors.

I can say there is particularly strong foreign interest in products such as dried tomatoes, tomato paste, pickles and fruit juices. The top 3 buyer countries for fresh fruit and vegetables are Russia with USD 950 million in exports, Germany with USD 250 million and Iraq with USD 206 million in exports. There is also an increase in our exports to these three countries compared to the previous year. The total number of countries to which we export reached 144. The top 3 buyer countries for fruit and vegetable products are Germany with USD 268 million in exports, the USA with USD 208 million and Iraq with USD 171 million in exports. We managed to export processed products to a total of 186 countries. With a short time remaining until the end of 2020, Ege Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association exported USD 346 million in fresh fruits and vegetables and USD 693 million in fruit and vegetable products in 2020, for a total of USD 1.040 billion in exports. We comfortably exceeded our 2020 target of USD 1 billion in exports. In 2021, we will continue to increase our exports without slowing down, there is a citrus season currently underway. Our pickles, which we export to 120 countries worldwide, faced significant demand growth during this year's epidemic period as consumers turned to healthier foods. I believe this increase will continue in the upcoming season. I believe our exports in both fresh fruits and vegetables and fruit and vegetable products will continue to increase. It was reminded once again that healthy nutrition and food are the most basic need in our lives, and how important agriculture and food are for people and countries. Especially countries like ours that are strong in production succeeded both in terms of self-sufficiency and in increasing exports, and I believe this success will continue in 2021. To maintain our strength and stability in new markets, we have 2 UR-GE Projects within our Association. UR-GE Projects, as you know, are projects organized with the support of our Ministry of Commerce, which implement the export of our products and increase the competitive strength of our member companies participating in the project through promotion and marketing activities in potential and target markets, and provide training and consulting activities for our companies.

As Ege Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association, we launched two new projects: Fresh Grapes, Cherries, Peaches and Processed Foods. The biggest negative brought by the pandemic is, unfortunately, travel restrictions. Although this restriction has affected our projects, we are providing many useful training opportunities to our project participants within the project scope. In 2021, we hope that with the reduction of the virus's effects and the opening of country borders, we will be able to realize the UR-GE trade delegations for which we have prepared very well during this period.

Additionally, we submitted an application for a project within the scope of the 16th Call of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Research-Development Support Program to identify and prevent losses in some fruits. If accepted, we will make significant progress toward reducing the losses experienced in vegetable and fruit harvesting, which is a major obstacle in front of our export potential. Unfortunately, due to both climate conditions and improper harvesting, transportation and storage methods, we lose a significant portion of the vegetables and fruits we produce and are unable to consume them. Our aim with this project is to identify and prevent the sources of all these adverse conditions. Finally, during this difficult period, I express my gratitude to our members and farmers who have made a significant contribution to increasing our region's exports, and I hope that 2021 will bring health and abundance by leaving behind all the adverse conditions experienced in 2020.