JEDDAH — The Turkish Citrus Promotion Group (CPG) has announced that the sale of Turkish citrus fruit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has increased in volume by 39% in 2016 compared to the volume of sales in 2015. This equates to over 101 million kilograms of citrus fruit with a total export value of just under $55.5 million. The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group Ali Kavak, at a gala event held at the InterContinental Hotel, Jeddah over the weekend.
The gala event, sponsored by the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group (CPG) and attended by Fikret Özer, Turkish Consul General to Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was held to celebrate and promote the goodness and taste of Turkish citrus fruits among some of the Kingdom’s leading supermarkets, five star hotels, importers and media representatives.
Ali Kavak, Chairman, Turkish Citrus Promotion Group, said: “A major competitive advantage of Turkish citrus is its superior quality. Our main purpose is to carry out promotional activities in order to increase citrus consumption and improve consumer habits by introducing the nutritional and organoleptic superiorities of Turkish citrus.”
Turkey benefits from an excellent climatic and ecological environment which enhances the production of many fruit and vegetable varieties, especially in citrus fruit cultivation. Today Turkish citrus fruit cultivation represents 3.74 % of the world’s total citrus production. 84.2 % of Turkey’s citrus fruit is produced in the Mediterranean Region, with the main production areas around in Mersin, Adana and Hatay Provinces, where 81 % of Turkish lemons, 95.6 % of Turkish grapefruit, 53 % of oranges and 72.2 % of mandarins are produced.
The Middle East as a regional market has long recognized the nutritional value and superior taste of Turkish citrus fruits. In 2016, the Middle East was Turkey’s second largest regional market after Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
While Saudi Arabia ranks 4th overall in terms of value and volume of Turkish citrus purchased, with the Russian Federation ranked 1st and Iraq and the Ukraine in 2nd and 3rd spots respectively, Saudi Arabia is actually ranked 3rd in terms when looking at the sale of lemons specifically.
For further information on the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group, visit: www.turkishcitrus.com
