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Press release…
Cengiz Balık: We must pay attention to pesticides so that we do not reduce our share in existing markets!
Cengiz Balık, Vice Chairman of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association, stated that 2022 was a difficult year, but 2023 will be an even more difficult year.
“We will see the consequences of economic problems, covid, increase in energy prices and inflation. A worldwide recession is expected. We need to work harder on new markets and pay attention to pesticides so that we don’t reduce our share in existing markets. We should not harvest without detecting the residual status of the crops. We have been carrying out the project of ‘We Know the Pesticides We Use’ for two years by our association. In this context, we are making a map of our region. We need to create this awareness at the base, in other words, in the eyes of producers,” he said.
“Our most important goal is to hike unit prices with more qualified value-added products”
“Awareness has started in our companies. We export 10 percent of our products, the same sensitivity should be shown in products consumed in the domestic market, if not, 2023 and 2024 will be much more difficult. We must persist with the production stage, because 30 percent of the products are wasted before they reach the table. We also need to overcome food waste,” he noted.
“You cannot ramp up the amount in exports, this is not sustainable, our aim is to boost the unit price of kg. Our most important goal is to increase unit prices with more qualified value-added products. If we heighten this, we will heighte our exports by 20 percent. And we can be more competitive. Even if we lose in terms of quantity in the recession, you can compensate this with the unit price,” he added…
