2024 has been a successful year overall for the Turkish cherries, says Yigit Gokyigit, commercial coordinator for the Turkish fresh produce exporter Alanar: "We had a great cherry season this year. Although the competition was high between the exporters shipping to Europe, we noticed there was significantly increasing demand this season. We had our best cherry season of the last five years in terms of the quantity that we exported. We're so glad to see that our existing customers, some of whom we've worked with for almost ten years, are satisfied with our service and goods. As a result, these companies imported much more quantity of fruits from us this year."
Most of the other produce that Alanar exports experienced a positive season in 2024 as well, although there was one product that unfortunately was not exported this year according to Gokyigit. "In addition to cherry, we had wonderful seasons for apricots and pomegranates. We did not only reach our financial goals for this fruit, but the quality was also really appreciated by our business partners. We ended both seasons with almost no complaints about the quality. Even though we had a good year in general, Alanar Fruit decided not to export figs this season. It was challenging to skip this season since we had good demand from our business partners."
As Alanar's own orchards continue to mature, more produce is expected to be harvested in 2025, Gokyigit states. "We expect to have critical developments in 2025. After Alanar was acquired by Tekfen Group in 2018, the company made huge investments in plantations. We currently have 700 hectares of orchards, in these orchards are still young trees that receive more crops every year, as the trees mature further. In 2025, we expect to harvest nearly 1,000 tonnes of cherries, another 1,000 tonnes of apricots, 200 tonnes of figs, and 100 tonnes of plums from our own orchards. As these volumes increase, we expect to export mainly fruits grown in our own orchards this year. This will make us able to have fully traceable control of quality and pesticide usage."
The Turkish currency and inflation have posed a challenge for most of the Turkish produce exporters in 2024, Gokyigit expects the same could happen in 2025 if nothing changes in the Turkish economy: "The Turkish inflation rate is higher than the currency exchange ratio, and it has been for a while. This results in higher costs. It's one of the most challenging issues for all Turkish exporters these days. Therefore, we have been obligated to increase our export prices last year. We may have the same results this year if the increasing rates of inflation and currency exchange stay the same."
Alanar will once again be exhibiting during Fruit Logistica in Berlin: "We're already excited for Fruit Logistica, to come together with our business partners there. We'll be waiting for everyone from the fruit industry to come visit us. Our booth will be in Hall 27, stand A-16," Gokyigit concludes.
For more information:
Yigit Gokyigit
Alanar
Mobile: +90 549 804 87 56
Email: [email protected]
www.alanar.com.tr