The Turkish weather will most likely lead to lower volumes for pomegranates, says Yigit Gokyigit, commercial coordinator for Alanar: “The pomegranate season starts this week in Turkey. The first crops will be harvested in the Western areas of our country, in late September-early October. Then in mid-October, crops will be harvested in southern and eastern regions of Turkey. This year, due to the impact of weather, we expect less volumes for the total harvest. This will make more large and medium size pomegranates appear on trees. So, sizes will be larger but volume will be lower this year, compared to last season.”
As the Turkish country is a large one, the quality and color varies per region, Gokyigit explains. “Color also varies depending on the region where the pomegranate is harvested. In some areas of Turkey there will be really nice bright red colored fruits, but this won’t be the case for all of the other regions. In the spring, rain had a negative effect on the pomegranates during blossoming. A similar effect is seen on various other fruits in the country. Consequently, as Turkey, we will have a smaller crop of pomegranate this year.”
There are still factors that could change the outcome for the Turkish pomegranate season, Gokyigit states: “If it’ll rain just before the harvest, which seems like a possibility at the moment, this will also affect the quality of the fruit. Therefore, there might be fewer 1st class quality pomegranates as well. Demand is very high this year. We expect to export the highest quantity of pomegranate of the last couple of years. We believe our main markets will be Europe, Northern America and Pacific Asia this year.”
Increasing costs will also up the prices for Turkish pomegranates, says Gokyigit. “Looking at the prices of pomegranates, we expect higher prices this year due to less volume and increasing costs. Pomegranate prices were also increased last year compared to previous seasons. I think this year’s price will be even higher than last year.”
“We’re very happy to see increasing demand from our customers to our pomegranates. Alanar also grows plums in its own orchards, and we will have a late variety in October, so the season will run at the same time as the pomegranate. Our plums have a huge demand this year as well,” Gokyigit concludes.
For more information:
Yigit Gokyigit
Alanar
Mobile: +90 549 804 87 56
Email: [email protected]
www.alanar.com.tr