Not all Turkish regions are currently in season when it comes to strawberry exports. The area of Izmit is currently preparing for the new upcoming season in April, says Amir Faltas, General Manager of Turkish strawberry exporter N.E. Farm: “We grow our strawberries in Turkey, in an area called Izmit. Our season starts around April and ends in November. For NE-Farms, the main export markets can be found in the Gulf countries, as well as the United Kingdom. As we’re not in season at the moment, we’re getting ready for the new season to start in April.”
According to Faltas, more and more strawberry exporters are looking to supply strawberries year-round. “Looking at current trends in the export of strawberries, the trendy packages have always been there. On top of that, the controlled temperature tunnels in Europe and GCC improved a lot, as everyone is trying to grow year-round. Another hot topic is climate change, as this is always a challenge for all growers.”
At this point, Faltast feels there is more demand than available supply for the European and GCC market: “Right now, we’re not producing, but companies in Spain and Morocco are. Another Turkish region, Antalya, is also currently in production. However, even these origins combined can’t fulfil the requirements of both the Gulf countries as well as Europe. Once our season starts, we’ll have an advantage in terms of exports to the Gulf countries. We have been operating in GCC for the last twenty years, so we know all the distribution channels. With this in mind, we will not face any issues in terms of an oversupply or anything,” he concludes.
For more information:
Amir Faltas
N.E. Farm
Tel.: +971 55 978 7814
Email: Amir@ne-farm.com
www.ne-strawberry.com
www.ne-farm.com