The Turkish have started their apple season and currently the Gala apples are in good demand. Production is higher than last year, but prices are similar thanks to the exchange rate between liras and US dollars.
The Turkish apple season had weather on its side this year, as quantity and quality are looking positive this year. According to Alper Kerim, owner of Demir Fresh Fruits, the “We’re expecting 15 per cent higher production for Turkish apples compared to last year. Since weather conditions were excellent so far, we’re very confident about the quality of the harvest. We’ve started with the Gala variety last week, in 15 days we’ll start the harvest of Red Delicious. After that come the Golden, Granny and Fuji varieties.”
Kerim states that they’re seeing good demand for their apples, specifically for Gala apples. This is good for Demir Fresh Fruits as they sell three different Gala varieties: “Demand for Gala is particularly high, especially in the Indian and Gulf territories. We have three types of Gala; Mondial, Schiniga and Ruby Gala. With the Ruby variety, we can reach 100 per cent in terms of colorization. The quality is honestly superb this year.”
Although the prices of apples are currently higher at Turkish orchards, the currency is in such a position that prices are actually similar to last year when exporting the apples: “In the current situation, the orchard prices are higher than last year. However these higher prices are offset by the liras rate against the US dollar, so the result comes down to similar prices to last season. That season we were selling Gala for an average price of 19 USD, and this season we’ve been shipping for 19 to 19.5 USD. India and Russia are the best destinations for apples of Turkish origin. The Gulf countries and other Asian countries will also be powerful markets for us this season.” Kerim concludes.
