Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports Increased

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports Rise In 2021, Turkey's fresh fruit, vegetable and processed product sectors achieved exports of USD 5.111 billion. Aegean exporters, who increased their exports by 60 percent over the past four years, accounted for 23 percent of this export volume with a performance of USD 1.182 billion. Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak's "2021 Export Review Meeting" was attended by Aegean Exporters Unions Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi, Aegean Dried Fruit and Processed Products Exporters Union President Birol Celep, Vice President Mehmet Ali Işık, Aegean Aquatic Products and Animal Products Exporters Union President Bedri Girit, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union Board Vice President Cengiz Balık, Board Members Emin Demirci, Sadık Demircan, Mehmet Ata Özdemir, Emin Demirci, Martin Sanford, Türkmen Türkmeoğlu, and Audit Committee Members Aydın Yıldırım and Kenan Unat. Speaking at a press briefing with Izmir's economic media, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak stated that they have been setting consecutive export records over the past four years by exporting flavours grown in the Aegean Region to all corners of the world. Noting that they take pride in being the leading sector for plant product exports in the Aegean Region, Uçak reported that they are targeting USD 1.3 billion in flavour exports in 2022 and USD 1.5 billion in 2023. Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak emphasized that with their 600-plus members, they have increased exports from USD 739 million in 2017 to USD 1.182 billion at the end of 2021, a 60 percent increase. Uçak stated: "With the pandemic, there was an increase in demand for fresh fruit, vegetable and processed product exports. Pepper and gherkin pickles led with USD 220 million in exports. Water, fruit juices and tomato paste followed pepper and gherkin pickles. Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy became our most important markets. In the fresh fruit and vegetable group, fresh grapes were the champion of 2021 with USD 68 million in exports, followed by tomatoes, cherries and mandarins. Russia, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and Romania emerged as the countries to which we exported the most." Stating that Germany led with USD 197 million in exports, Uçak continued: "We exported USD 174 million to the Russian Federation, USD 144 million to the United States, USD 80 million to the Netherlands, and USD 74 million to the United Kingdom. In 2021, the total number of countries to which we exported was 138."

Focus on Residue-Free Production

Stating that they have set consecutive export records during their four-year tenure, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak said that to ensure sustainability in exports, as in previous years, they will focus on "Residue-Free Production" in 2022. Reporting that they implemented a project titled "We Know the Pesticides We Use" in 2021, Uçak stated: "Through our member relations team, we visit all our members at their facilities to work on resolving their issues. With our union's resources, we procured service vehicles, and our member relations team will continue to provide intensive service in the process ahead. Before the pandemic, we held intensive producer meetings, visited villages and raised awareness among producers about proper and residue-free production. In the coming period, we will place emphasis on these meetings, we will establish mobile teams, visit village coffee houses and raise awareness among producers about proper and residue-free production. It is very important for us as a union to be pioneers in the region on this issue and to convey the importance of this matter to all stakeholders. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry declared 2022 as the year of mobilization for education. We will also accelerate our efforts to raise awareness among our producers this year," he said.

Three-Month Training Program

Uçak, speaking about creating three-month training programs to raise awareness among young people on agriculture so that in 2022 a group of knowledgeable producers who value what they produce is formed, said: "We will inform prospective farmers on many issues, from green agreement to losses in fruits and vegetables. We will expand and continue implementation of the "We Know the Pesticides We Use" project, which we launched in 2021 and completed for 9 products. We will work to develop new projects for value-added, high unit price production and export." Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak stated that they wish for the impact of the pandemic to diminish in 2022 and that they want to accelerate their international activities as the pandemic's impact lessens. Uçak concluded his remarks: "At the end of 2021, we conducted a sectoral trade mission to the Netherlands and Belgium. Our companies held business discussions with buyers. Both through our UR-GE clusters titled "Target Markets in Fresh Cherries, Grapes and Pomegranates" and "Target Markets in Processed Fruit and Vegetable Sector," and with our members, our greatest desire is to meet again at international trade fairs and missions abroad. With the energy and dedication of our members, as the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union, we have set an export target of USD 1.5 billion for the 100th year of the founding of our Republic," he said. Recalling that 2022 is an election year for all exporter unions, President Uçak stated: "However, we continue our efforts to serve our members and increase our exports as if there were no elections. I wish that the elections for the boards of exporter unions to be held in 2022 and the new term board elections are beneficial for our country and exports, and that they are conducted with friendship, unity and solidarity," he concluded. Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union Vice President Cengiz Balık noted that they have met their export targets between 2018-22, and stressed that in addition to exports, production is very important for maintaining targets for 2022 and beyond, while announcing that they will make efforts in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Trade, and the Turkish Exporters Assembly to achieve higher quality production. Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union President Hayrettin Uçak listed the achievements during his tenure as follows:

• Our Member Relations Team, which began operations in September 2018, visited more than 800 members in Izmir, Manisa, Aydın, Muğla, Afyon, Balıkesir and Denizli at regular intervals without geographical limitations, listened to their concerns and took note of their demands. We provided immediate solutions to problems and demands that could be resolved and met quickly.
• We published five issues of our "Harvest and Beyond" magazine. Through our magazine, we promoted our exported products domestically and internationally.
• Through the Harvest and Beyond television program with participation of our Board Members, we informed the public.
• Before the restrictions that began with the pandemic, we held more than 10 meetings from Kemalpaşa to Afyon, from Alaşehir to Ortaca, with heavy participation and interest from our producers. At these meetings, we brought together our producers with academics and relevant bureaucrats.
• Through the We Know the Pesticides We Use Project, analyses we conducted on cherries, pomegranates, grapes, mandarins, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and grapevine leaves—products important for our sector—resulted in a map of the region regarding residue limits. Producers were informed.
• Following the first UR-GE project we successfully completed before the pandemic, within the scope of our newly created 2 UR-GE Projects, we completed our work on promotion and marketing activities to be conducted in potential and target markets, increasing the competitiveness of our companies and market research.

• We launched training and consulting activities for our companies that will continue in the first half of 2022.

• Through the "Volunteer Final Harvest Project" that we conducted jointly with the Konak District Agriculture and Forestry Directorate and the International Drip Volunteers Association, we introduced our volunteers, mostly university students, to agriculture and distributed the collected products to soup kitchens, creating a socially strong union.

• In the project we started as a corporate responsibility initiative, we collected products that fell and could not be picked by our producers, providing some support to our producers. At the same time, we contributed to the zero waste in food project.

• Until March 2020 when the pandemic began, we participated in trade fairs in every corner of the world, collected purchase requests and provided our members with information on these requests. We also made known to the entire world our sector, our region and the rare products and product varieties in our region.
• During the pandemic period, as countries imposed bans and sanctions and all trade fairs worldwide were cancelled, we transferred our promotional activities to the virtual environment.

• Through TIM organization, we organized many virtual trade missions with various countries and brought our members together with trade missions on digital platforms.

• After the pandemic, we began our physical activities with the Netherlands-Belgium Sectoral Trade Mission, bringing our companies together with potential buyers in these countries and organizing bilateral business meetings. We conducted promotional activities about our region's companies and products.
• We brought high-level managers and executives of Eximbank, which has an important role and support in exports, together with our members. We enabled our exporters to convey their problems and demands at the highest levels to Eximbank managers.
• Through high-level discussions with Turkish Cargo regarding increasing and developing exports via air cargo, essential for exports to distant destinations, our exporters' demands, particularly regarding cargo prices, were conveyed.

• Periodically, we brought together our exporters and Turkish Cargo officials, ensuring that our exporters' demands were conveyed directly to the most authorized persons.

• Regarding the vinegar supply problem in pickle production, we made an intervention with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the problem was quickly resolved, allowing vinegar-producing companies to resume ethyl alcohol supply.
• On the AMS pheromone traps used in mandarins, an important product of our region, which was raised at our producer meetings (2018), we immediately made an intervention regarding increasing the support provided and ensured that the support amount was increased.
• We made requests with TIM and the Ministry of Trade regarding the quota problem in dry tomato exports to EU countries and the GTİP code change problem that emerged in 2021.
• The problem of Saudi Arabian customs stopping the import of Turkish products was presented to TIM and our Ministry of Trade dozens of times and raised at every platform.
• We made repeated interventions regarding timely increase or complete removal of the quota on tomato exports to the Russian Federation, and the quota was increased each time. Efforts to completely remove the quota continue.
• Regarding the residue problem in fruits and vegetables, we prepared brochures and posters to make our producers more aware, and necessary steps were taken within the framework of the action plan conducted by our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
• We made applications to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to reduce the frequency of analysis applied in the export of fresh fruit and vegetable products, and many of our demands on various products were met favorably.
• Weekend and holiday work issues in customs procedures were resolved through discussions with the Customs Directorate. This problem, which sometimes came from our producers, was always addressed immediately and resolved.
• For our members to save money and time, we ensured that authority to appoint inspectors was granted to district directorates that did not previously have this authority.
• Regarding the recent analysis problem that occurred in exports to the Russian Federation, the matter was escalated to the Parliamentary Agriculture Commission to prevent company losses.
• We attended all Fresh Fruit and Vegetable and Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Council Meetings and closely followed developments.
• In early 2022, at meetings with our Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli and our Minister of Trade Dr. Mehmet Muş, we conveyed the problems of our exporters.
• Within the 2021 budget of our union, through savings we made in our expenses without disrupting the services we provide to our members, we purchased one brand new vehicle and registered it to the union's fixed assets. This allowed our member relations team to become mobile, enabling them to conduct more member visits.