EYMSİB Sets Export Target for 2024

Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association has doubled its exports over the past 6 years. EYMSIB set an export target of USD 1.45 billion for 2024. The Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association press conference was held with the participation of Aegean Exporters Associations Coordinator Vice Chairman and Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Chairman Hayrettin Uçak, Aegean Exporters Associations Coordinator Chairman Jak Eskinazi, Aegean Aquatic Products and Animal Products Exporters Association Chairman Bedri Girit, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Vice Chairman Cengiz Balık, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Vice Chairman Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Member Sadık Demircan, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Member Kenan Unat, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Member Vildan Akgedik, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Alternate Member Ahmet Altubay, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Audit Board Alternate Member Ahmet Kaymaz, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Alternate Member Aydın Akyüzlü, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Board Alternate Member Berna Akyüzlü. Aegean Exporters Associations Coordinator Vice Chairman and Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Chairman Hayrettin Uçak noted that they broke export records in many product groups during the 100th year of the Republic and brought USD 1.33 billion in foreign currency to Turkey with a 7% export increase. He expressed the pride and joy of reaching the highest export level in the history of the Republic in 2023.

EIB ranks third among member associations

Speaking at the "Export Evaluation Meeting," Chairman Uçak said, "We made a successful start to the second century of our Republic. At the end of 2023, we were the fourth association among Aegean Exporters Associations, just behind the Aegean Ready-to-Wear and Clothing Exporters Association. With our 17-day export performance in 2024, we surpassed the Aegean Ready-to-Wear and Clothing Exporters Association and rose to third place in export volume with USD 1.337 billion in exports. We set an export target of USD 1.45 billion for the end of 2024." Highlighting that 805 companies contributed to the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association's USD 1.33 billion in exports in 2023, Uçak continued: "2024 is equally important and significant for our country as 2023. The first year of Turkey's new century. Beginnings are always important. We want to keep our targets high this year as well. To achieve our goals, we started working from the first day of the year with great effort and enthusiasm. At the end of 2017, our exports were USD 740 million, and by the end of 2023, we nearly doubled them to these levels. I want you to know that behind this success is a large team and teamwork. I would like to thank our Board of Directors, Members, Committees, General Secretariat and association staff who have contributed greatly to this success."

We accounted for 23% of Turkey's exports

Stating that Turkey's fresh fruit and vegetable and processed fruit and vegetable exports reached USD 5.9 billion, with 23% of these exports carried out by the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association, Uçak said, "Our leading products are: dried tomatoes at USD 160 million, pepper pickles at USD 141 million, fruit juices at USD 124 million, cornichon pickles at USD 110 million, fresh tomatoes at USD 70 million, cherries at USD 49 million, and fresh grapes at USD 42 million. We completed the year with export records in many of these products." Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Chairman Hayrettin Uçak also shared information that EYMSIB exported to 128 countries and customs zones in 2023. Uçak continued: "The top 3 positions in our exports were held by Germany with USD 220 million, the United States of America with USD 181 million, and Russia with USD 118 million. The United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Romania, Canada, and France were the other markets within the top 10 countries."

New URGE Project launched

Mentioning that they successfully carried out many projects in 2023 to increase their exports, Uçak said, "We completed 2 URGE Projects, which we conducted with the participation of a total of 32 member companies under overseas promotion activities and which were supported by the Ministry of Trade at a rate of 75%, with Indonesia and Singapore trade delegations. Without wasting time, we rolled up our sleeves for a new URGE project and as of this month, we are launching our new URGE program with 39 companies. In 2024, our route will be markets such as Singapore, China, and South Korea in line with the Ministry of Trade's Far Markets Strategy. We will concentrate our promotion activities in these countries. After serious initiatives, we brought Interfresh Fair, which has the distinction of being Turkey's only fresh fruit and vegetable fair held in Antalya, to İzmir. The fair will be held in İzmir for the first time in 2024. We are excited about this. For the Interfresh İzmir fair, which will take place on 26-28 September, we also plan to hold a well-attended promotion meeting in the coming period."

TURQUALITY Project coming

Recalling that Turkey set an export target of USD 400 billion by the end of 2028, Chairman Uçak stated that in addition to the URGE Project, they will begin TURQUALITY Projects supported by the Ministry of Trade in 2024. Uçak said, "I believe our TURQUALITY projects will create a stir in the coming period and will greatly contribute to the promotion of our country's products."

Two-pronged approach for residue-free production

Noting that food-importing countries have demands for residue-free products, Chairman Uçak summarized their work for residue-free production as follows: "For residue-free production, as Aegean Exporters Associations, we provided a total of 17,500 Mediterranean fruit fly traps in İzmir, Aydın and Muğla provinces and 50,000 vinegar fly traps in Manisa province for our producers' use. We continued our "We Know the Pesticides We Use" project, which is one of our "Sustainability Principle" projects, in 2023 by expanding the product range and submitted our findings from our regions experiencing residue problems to our Ministries in report form. We also brought our "Food Loss Detection" project, which we are conducting with Ege University, to its final stage, and we will share its reports with the public in the near future."

We will bring young people to agriculture

Stating that they were forced to pause the "3rd Generation Agricultural Entrepreneurship" project, which they first implemented in 2019, due to the pandemic and the 6 February earthquakes, Uçak added that in 2024 they will expand the scope of the project and contribute to the development of young producers and exporters.