The Turkish cherry season didn’t go as smoothly as exporters had initially expected, says Mehmet Çakmak, sales and marketing manager for Turkish fresh produce exporter Ani Tarim: “Impacts of unfavorable weather conditions were at large-scale in many European cherry producing countries, which left damages in quality and lowered the availability for early-mid-season yields. Though the volume in many countries, including Turkey, seemed good before the harvest, the rain and cloudy days led to unexpected disappointments. As growers and suppliers from Turkey, we were also challenged by the same circumstances in week 23, 24 and 25. However, as the total cherry production volume in Turkey is quite high compared to other countries, the buyers in Europe have shown more interest on Turkish cherries, due to lower availability in general. We think this trend will continue till the end of the season.”
As per usual, prices for the Turkish cherries started at a very high level. Çakmak states that recently prices have been coming down: “Under the normal conditions, we usually observe high-prices in the first weeks of season, then those prices considerably fall towards week 23, as the availability of yield increases everywhere and this continues the same way until week 28-29. This is unfolding right now, as prices are dropping, I think this will be continue until week 29 in this season.”
Thankfully, volumes have increased as the mid-to-late areas in Turkey started their harvest. “Before the season started, we were expecting to have an easy-going season in terms of yield and quality compared to previous seasons. But the wet and high-humid days reduced the availability of good fruits from early season areas. On the other hand, mid- and late period areas like Isparta, Konya and Niğde in Turkey, still brought us enough volumes to bring smiles to our faces, and the quality was good as well, as weather conditions have just turned to usual. We expect the season to last until week 31 this year,” Çakmak concludes.
Source - https://www.freshplaza.com
