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Press release…
Seedless raisin exporters rolled up their sleeves to sell products to the end consumer…
While sultanas were the raw material of the biscuits and bakery products sectors, with the pandemic, they have added flavour to biscuits, cakes, bread, cookies and other bakery products made by the end consumer at home.
Sultana exporters will focus on product sales through e-commerce channels to reach individual consumers directly.
Osman Öz, Chair of the Turkish Dried Fruit Sector Board, stated that there has been a change in the consumer profile of seedless raisins after the pandemic.
Emphasizing that Turkey exports around 250 thousand tonnes of raisins every year and takes a share of 35 percent from the world’s seedless raisin exports and that Turkish grapes are in a position to dominate the world’s grape need, Öz said in his speech at the International Conference of Dried Grape Producer Countries that the consumption of raisins pointed to the change.
Noting that the worldwide pandemic has caused a great change in consumption habits, Öz said, “This change was affected by raisins. Until today, raisins were used in the industry for biscuits, cakes, bakery products, molasses, wine, raki and vinegar. After the pandemic, people started to spend most of their time at home. So production of home made seedless raisin cake, cookies, bread, etc. increased. We need to be involved in e-commerce platforms where we can reach the end consumer directly. In the next period, we will continue to sell products in containers, while we will focus on selling products in small packages with e-commerce.”
Noting that the World Dried Grapes Producer Countries Conference was held online in 2021 as well as in 2020, Turkey Dried Fruit Sector Board President Osman Öz continued his words as follows: “At the conference, we came together with the representatives from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Greece, South Africa, Turkey and the United States of America. Presentations were made on the evaluations of the producer countries for the 2020/21 season and the yield, domestic consumption and export expectations for 2021/22. Representatives of the producer countries participating in the meeting touched on the effects of the pandemic. It was decided to hold the World Dried Grapes Producer Countries Conference in 2022 in İzmir.”
Call to the British to eat more dried fruit…
Phil Gowland, who attended the conference as a guest speaker, gave information about the campaign efforts to increase the consumption of dried fruit in England.
Gowland stated that the aim of the project, which was carried out in England in 2021 with the slogan EATMOREDRIEDFRUIT (eat more dried fruit), is to raise awareness about the health benefits of dried fruits and to increase the consumption of dried fruits in the next 5 years, while creating a positive perception about dried fruits. He added that the project, carried out with the slogan (eat more dried fruit), reached more than 26 million people and received the support of the INC and stakeholders in Turkey, England, USA, South Africa, Italy, Argentina and Australia.
The 2021 meeting of the Seedless Dried Grape Producer Countries Conference, which supports projects to rise the consumption of seedless raisins, which is indispensable for healthy tables, was held on October 21, 2021, under the organization of Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EİB).
Osman Öz was elected as the Chair of the 2021 International Conference of Dried Grapes Producer Countries, Mark King from Australia as the vice chairman and Ece Tırkaz from Turkey as the clerk.
At the conference, the participants exchanged information about world raisin production and marketing. Concerns were also expressed at the meeting regarding the negative effects of climate change and extraordinary natural events such as epidemics and droughts on production in the coming period, which have a greater impact on the world.
