Turkey has to try their best to convince clients to go for their apples, with Poland offering apples at bottom prices: “Our apples are slightly more expensive compared to the Polish supply. We stand behind our prices though, as we only export prime quality apples that are not even available in Turkish supermarkets. The taste is unique and they are grown in our orchards without the use of chemicals and with the use of organic fertilizers,” Mona Hamed, Sales Manager for Arona explains.
The Turkish apples are mostly being exported to Eastern countries, like India, and Russia. “The fact that the Chinese apples are not allowed in India, helps us a great deal. The Indian people still need their apples and we are more than happy to supply it. At the moment the prices are quite good for us, as we sell the apples in dollars and receive more lira for a dollar than we did last year.” Hamed explains.
For the future Arona is looking to increase their volumes. Maned says the company was hoping to double their harvest this year, but the weather made this harder: “We lost about 20% of our apples due to the weather conditions, this was a problem for some of the varieties, but the Golden and Red Delicious varieties are actually doing better than last year. We have to compete with Iran, Russia and even Chile at the end of the season, but we’re always confident due to the quality of our produce. We’re looking at penetrating new markets in the future as well and South Africa and Germany are potential markets for our apples. From what we’ve understood these markets care about quality and that is what Arona’s all about!”
