Turkey’s tropical fruit exports on the rise

For the first half of 2022, Turkish exports of tropical fruits have already reached US$7.9m, according to Hayrettin Uçak, head of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association (EYMSİB), Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Uçak revealed that tropical fruit exports had rocketed by 225 per cent between 2018 and 2021.

“In 2018, revenues from the export of tropical fruits were US$4m,” he said, “climbing gradually to US$5m in the following year and to US$13m in 2021.”

According to Uçak, the range offered by local growers for export has also expanded to include papaya, mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, coconut, passion fruit and bilberry.

Revenues from kiwifruit exports exceeded US$5m, the report stated, while revenues from mangoes increased from US$144,000 to US$1.1m.

The UK was apparently the top export market for local mango growers at US$948,000, while bilberry sales to Germany grew from US$524,000 to US$761,000, Uçak revealed.

“In 2020, Turkey exported tropical fruits to around 60 countries, but last year the number of those countries rose to 83,” he said.

In the first half of 2022, exports to Russia totaled US$1.5m, Uçak said, with sales to Romania growing by 10 per cent to US$920,000.

UK imports rose from US$119,000 last year to US$981,000, according to Uçak, who said that exports to Germany had increased by 38 percent while sales to Spain had reached US$553,000.

Uçak predicted that Turkish revenues from tropical fruit exports may reach US$20m in 2022.

Uçak last week said that fresh fruit and vegetable exports were up by 9 per cent in January-June compared with a year ago, to US$551m, with Germany, the US and Russia the three main markets.

Export revenues, which stood at around US$1.2bn last year, are forecast to rise to US$1.3bn this year, and to US$1.5bn in 2022.