Hayrettin Uçak Elected Chairman of Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board

Hayrettin Uçak has been elected as chair of Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board for 2026-2030, which earned Turkey USD 2.5 billion in foreign exchange in 2025.

Hayrettin Uçak, who served as chair of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association from 2018 to 2026, will bring his experience in the fresh produce and fruit and vegetable products sector to his new role as chair of Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board.

Following the general assemblies of exporter associations held in April 2026, Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board held its first meeting at Aegean Exporter Associations.

At the meeting, Melisa Tokgöz Mutlu, Vice Chair of the Istanbul Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association, and Ömer Faruk Kuşçulu, Chair of the Uludag Fruit and Vegetable Products Exporters Association, were elected as vice chairs of the sector board.

Three sectors to act together
Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board Chair Hayrettin Uçak noted that Turkey produces 58-60 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables annually, which is converted into added value through the fresh produce, fruit and vegetable products, and dried fruit sectors.

Uçak emphasized that quality and food safety will be priority areas in the coming period, and that the three sectors will act jointly during this process.

"We are setting out with a USD 10 billion export target"
Pointing out that joint action will be taken against the pesticide issue in the fruit and vegetable products, fresh produce, and dried fruit sectors, Chair Uçak made the following assessment:

"The pesticide problem is a common issue for our three sectors. For this reason, we will act together with all stakeholders from producers to exporters, from universities to public institutions. We will work to solve our sector's problems with a 'we not I' approach. We aim to increase the combined exports of our three sectors from the current level of USD 8.3 billion to USD 10 billion. In line with this goal, in addition to quality and food safety efforts, we will focus on marketing activities. TURQUALITY and UR-GE projects, trade fairs and sectoral trade missions will be among our priority areas."

Other members of the sector board
The following names will serve on Turkey's Fruit and Vegetable Products Sector Board:

-Cengiz Balık, Chair of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association
-Cevdet Çekok, Chair of the Istanbul Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association
-Kenan Unat, Vice Chair of Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association
-Board Members Deniz Celep, Tolga Selim Kağan and Martin Sanford
-Istanbul Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Members Ali Başman and Emre Erbalcı
-Alistair Baran-Blake, Vice Chair of the Uludag Fruit and Vegetable Products Exporters Association Board
-Board Member Emre Kamiloğlu

Dried tomato became export leader
Turkey exported 2.1 million tons of fruit and vegetable products in 2025, earning USD 2.5 billion in foreign exchange.

Dried tomato was the most exported product in the sector with USD 185.5 million in exports. Dried tomato was followed by pepper paste with USD 146.5 million and gherkin pickle with USD 124 million.

Germany is the largest market
Germany ranked first in Turkey's fruit and vegetable products exports with USD 165 million. Germany was followed by the United States with USD 162 million in imports, while the United Kingdom imported USD 86 million of Turkish fruit and vegetable products.