Turkey: Interesting Window For Blueberries

Although demand for Turkish blueberries is already strong at some points of the year, the product is actually still a developing one among Turkish growers and exporters, says Ceyhun Gündüz, general manager of fruit exporter Alya Fruit: "We continue to collect information in a focused manner for blueberries, which seems to have been a developing product in the last two years. Production investments for blueberries, which started four years ago, have now started to reach their maximum level. Alya Fruit makes a big effort to increase the shelf-life of this product at a level that supports growers. Currently, as our new focus, we aim to raise blueberry products to the highest level in the Far East market, together with our brand."

As a developing product, studies and research are being conducted still, to improve the way the Turkish blueberry is cultivated, Gündüz explains. "Currently, Turkish blueberries are a developing product. Every day, breeding and development studies are progressing. Acreage is increasing, while potted productions and under-cover investments are usually made. We find that the production quantity has been focused on certain varieties in the last two years. These varieties show us how to move forward in terms of the blueberry's shelf life. That being said, blueberries are very new for Turkish growers. As such, the industry is developing every day, as new varieties and experiments are continuing."

According to Gündüz, there is one very specific window that could be interesting for the Turkish blueberry growers and exporters to focus on: "When we look at the global production of blueberries, production times and quantities for Türkiye are in a position to complete the resulting periodic gaps. The gap between the months of April and July in particular, sees demand for Turkish blueberries at a much higher point. In order to evaluate this periodic gap, we've focused our Turkish production on this period. And we aim to produce the amount that will be able to meet this demand."

Gündüz emphasizes that the logistical challenges surrounding a product like blueberries actually give the Turkish exporters an advantage. "Currently, our logistics focus for blueberry is related to air cargo transportation. We prefer distant markets as a target. Logistical processes are the most important issue for blueberries and Turkey is almost the centre of the world, in terms of transportation. For this reason, air cargo transportation has always gained importance, especially for blueberries. We're a country that can respond quite fast with air shipments to meet orders. Turkish Airlines, which is the flag carrier, and other air cargo transportation companies play an important role in this regard," he concludes.

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Ceyhun Gündüz