THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
In the organization of Uludağ Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association (UYMSİB), “Canadian Fresh Fruit Industry Information Meeting” was held online in cooperation with Ottowa Trade Consultancy, Toronto Commercial Attaché and Hatti Food. At the meeting, the Canadian fresh fruit market and trade opportunities were discussed.
Uludağ Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association (UYMSİB) Vice Chairman of the Board Professor Dr. Senih Yazgan, Ottowa Chief Commercial Counselor Mehmet Hakan Akgün, Toronto Commercial Attaché Mehmet Ekizoğlu and Hatti Food representative Mehmet Demirhan as well as many industry representatives attended the meeting.
Speaking at the opening of the programme, UYMSİB Vice Chairman of the Board Professor Dr. Senih Yazgan stated that these meetings will help exporters to take a position in the market. Yazgan said, “The fresh fruit and vegetable sector in Turkey gained an incredible momentum, especially in the export phase, with the pandemic. This is a very pleasing situation for our country and the region. We have very special crops in Bursa. As the Association, we are trying to evaluate these crops in markets such as Canada. In this context, Bursa Black Fig and Quince among the soft seeds started to be sent to Canada intensively. We think that our exports will increase as long as there are no obstacles regarding the quarantine.”
“In addition, our application for ‘UYMSIB’s Turquality Project for Canada’, which we prepared for the purpose of effectively promoting and raising awareness of Bursa Black Fig and Quince product groups in Canada, was approved by our Ministry of Trade,” Dr. Yazgan noted.
“There is a potential, we must expand our share”
Ottowa Trade Chief Counselor Mehmet Hakan Akgün also emphasized that they have to focus on certain products since they are far away logistically. Akgün said, “We have a trade relationship between Canada and Turkey, varying between 2-3 billion dollars. When we look at the fresh fruit and vegetable category, the last 5 years draw attention. In 2016, we exported 165 million dollars the most. Last year, we had an export of 130 million dollars. There is a shopping culture in Canada that has an extremely high level of welfare, values standards, is at peace with health and the environment and reflects the history of the product to the consumer. There is a potential of 12 billion dollars in the fresh fruit sector here. Canada imported 190 million dollars in the quince-apple category and 24.5 million dollars in the fig category. Considering that Spain, Morocco and Greece are selling to these regions, we should be able to get a bigger share from this market.”
“Canada is not commercially aggressive”
Hatti Food Representative Mehmet Demirhan indicated that they mainly do dry food trade and they import quince, pomegranate, plum and cherry as fresh fruit and that they bring quince and pomegranate in containers, plums and cherries by plane. Demirhan added, “Canada is not as ambitious and aggressive as the USA in commercial terms, it is calmer and slower. Toronto, which is the third largest state in North America, has 21 companies and has a daily transaction volume of around 3,000 tonnes. Turkey can make a difference here with the speed of doing business.”
Toronto Commercial Attaché Mehmet Ekizoğlu gave information about the Canadian food market and sector distribution channels. The programme ended with a question and answer session.
