THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
The TURQUALITY Project named Turkish Tastes, which was implemented 5 years ago by the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB) with the support of the Ministry of Trade in order to ramp up the export of Turkish food products to the United States of America, which is the world leader in food imports, has led to a more intense use of Turkish flavours in the menus of American chefs and an increase in our Turkish exports to the USA.
While the export of Turkish food products to the USA soared from 800 million dollars to 1.5 billion dollars in 5 years, Thomas Macrina, the past President of the American Federation of Chefs, hosted by the Aegean Exporters’ Associations in Türkiye within the scope of the TURQUALITY Project, stated that after meeting Turkish food products with the TURQUALITY Project, he started to use Turkish food products more in his menus.
“Sea bass, olive oil, dried figs are the flavours I use the most,” said Macrina, “The flavour and freshness of Turkish products are very good. I am in a position to distinguish Turkish olive oil from the olive oils of other countries. Turkish lamb is unquestionably number 1 in the world. The flavour of lamb meat in Türkiye is nowhere else in the world. The strong ties we have established with the TURQUALITY Project will bring a stronger representation of Turkish export products in the US market. We will place our first olive oil order very soon. Turkish branded olive oils will go to the USA. Olive oils will be followed by dried fruit bars. Olive oil and dried fruit bars will lead other Turkish food products. Other food products will go to the USA faster.”
Chef Hall of Fame Member and US Foods Senior Manager Anthony M. Rizzo underlined that restaurants, hotels and markets in the US want to include new and high quality products in their product range, that they created demand from the samples previously received from the country and that the recent visits to this country will enable new products from Türkiye to enter the US market.
Pointing out that the production skills of the people in Türkiye make their job easier in the US market, Rizzo added, “A supplier with quality production makes our job easier. The fact that Turkish producers take hygiene and sustainability seriously will ensure more representation of Turkish food products in the US market. The Turkish food sector’s goal of increasing its export volume to 5 billion dollars in the US market is very realistic.”
