THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Turkish egg exports to the U.S. soared in the first eight months of the year, jumping by over 400 percent on an annual basis as a result of the bird flu outbreak, according to a report on Sunday.
The bird flu outbreak, which began in the U.S. late last year, negatively impacted egg supplies nationwide. This also helped the Turkish egg producers to lift the shipments, resulting in a surge of sales of 406 percent year-over-year.
As the outbreak led to the culling of numerous poultry and the disruption of production, Türkiye was on top of the list of countries the U.S. turned to for egg supplies.
Türkiye generated 238 million dollars in revenue from egg exports to 46 countries between January and August of this year, a report by Anadolu Agency (AA) said.
Iraq topped the list of egg export destinations with 66 million dollars. It was followed by Russia with 45 million dollars, the U.S. with 17 million dollars, Kazakhstan with 16 million dollars, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 15 million dollars and Italy with 14 million dollars, respectively.
The most notable increase was seen in shipments to the U.S. and Italy in the stated period.
Accordingly, Turkish producers, who exported goods worth some 3.5 million dollars to the U.S. between January and August last year, managed to obtain 17.75 million dollars this time.
Similarly, egg exports to Italy soared from around 3.08 million dollars to 14.05 dollars million this year.
Thus, exports to the U.S. rose by staggering 406 percent in the first eight months of 2025, the report by AA indicated.
Bedri Girit, the president of the Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters’ Association and eggs exporter, said that they produce 2.6 million tonnes of chicken meat and 23 billion eggs annually.
Girit stated that severe bird flu cases have been seen in the U.S. and Brazil, explaining that some countries are experiencing bird flu cases due to weather conditions.
“Like a wave of cold, places that experience cold weather soon experience bird flu cases, fueled by migratory birds and other factors,” he told AA.
“Therefore, bird flu may occur in one country but not in another. We have benefited from such a wave. There have been severe bird flu cases in the U.S. and Brazil. At one point, 11 European countries experienced simultaneous bird flu outbreaks. This is why exports to the U.S. increased fourfold and to the European Union nearly threefold during this period,” he further noted.
Girit also stated that they have achieved significant export figures on a country-by-country basis, which makes them happy.
“The bird flu crisis also benefited us in another way. Countries we hadn’t worked with before, or people with different opinions, realized the quality of Turkish eggs when they encountered them,” he suggested.
Moreover, he said that the number of countries is increasing and they’ve begun exporting to other countries.
“So, when we first started, we were sending eggs and chicken meat to one country; we started with Italy. Later, Greece, Spain and other countries joined the scene. We are now present on the streets of the EU countries,” he concluded…
