Ugur Dikici emigrated to New York 15 years ago. He started from scratch, setting up a market stall on the street selling fruits and vegetables, and he quickly conquered the sector. Now, after working day and night, Dikici is the owner of 6 of these stands and his success story has made him a hero on the fruit and vegetable scene.
The stalls are licensed by the New York council and health checks are carried out by officials; their presence on New York street corners ensures that the population can consume fresh fruit and vegetables. The sector is run by Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Italians, but mainly by Turks. It is a part of Turkish culture to sell fruit on the streets and provide consumers with the freshest fruits at the most reasonable prices.
Dikici explains that New Yorkers love fruit, “Because of the high demand, we can sell the fruit cheaper, we don’t pay rent. We have specific permission to be on the street. People don’t buy by the kilo here, they buy piece by piece, 1 apple, 2 bananas. They buy like this.”
Dikici explains that most of the work takes place at night, like checking prices in the evening, assembling the stock and loading lorries, which is why he sleeps during the day. He mostly works with other Turks.
There is more potential in New York than in the Turkish fruit and vegetable sector; the New York fruit and vegetable sector is generally in Turkish hands and is considered more professional than the sector in Turkey.
Turkish fresh fruit and vegetable stalls are the first stop for American consumers: George Nerinburg, shops at the same stall everyday, “Everything is sold for much cheaper than what you can buy at the shops. I don’t know who works on the stalls or where they’re from but everybody is a very interesting character. It’s a rare situation, something unique to New York City.”
Source: haberport.com