THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release
June, 2026…
Cengiz Balık, Chair of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association, stated that fresh fruit and vegetable sector has demonstrated an export performance far exceeding the growth in production.
“Looking at the period from 2002 to 2024, whilst our production soared by approximately 50 percent, our exports grew by over 175 percent. This picture shows that the Turkish fresh fruit and vegetable sector has evolved into a structure that not only produces but also competes strongly in global markets. Our ability to convert the success we achieve in production into exports is growing stronger with each passing year. In 2025, our fresh fruit and vegetable exports reached 3 billion 704 million dollars. We aim for our exports to exceed 4.5 billion dollars in 2026,” he said.
Tangerines become the driving force behind fresh fruit and vegetable exports…
Providing further information on the leading export products in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, Chairman Balık noted that tangerines, in particular, have been the star of exports in recent years. “Whilst our tangerine exports stood at 247,000 tonnes in 2002, they rose to 702,000 tonnes in 2024 and approached the 1 million tonne mark in 2025. This approximately fourfold spike is one of the most tangible indicators of our sector’s success in international markets. We exported 45 percent of the tangerines we produced, generating foreign exchange earnings of 913 million dollars.”
Apple exports rose by 2,110 percent…
Highlighting that apple production, which stood at 2 million 200 thousand tonnes in 2002, rose to 4 million 420 thousand tonnes in 2024 – a spike of 101 percent – Balık emphasised that apple exports, which stood at 14 thousand tonnes in 2002, soared to 315 thousand tonnes in 2024, that apple exports had recorded a 2,100 percent spike in volume, the average export price had risen by 43 percent and we had earned 190 million dollars in foreign exchange from apple exports.
Drawing attention to the fact that whilst there were no exports of figs, kiwis, strawberries or bananas in 2002, these have now become significant export items, he added, “We have reached a position where we export 23,000 tonnes of figs, 20,854 tonnes of strawberries, 7,230 tonnes of kiwis and 4,679 tonnes of bananas. In addition, we have achieved significant export successes with products such as lemons, tomatoes, cherries, peaches and nectarines.”
