Turkey's low artichoke consumption

Turkey is number one for the lowest per person artichoke consumption, among artichoke producing coun…

Turkey is number one for the lowest per person artichoke consumption, among artichoke producing countries. This causes prices to stay at consistently high levels.

Artichokes are the most expensive vegetables in shops and at the market. For the last century artichokes have been known as the food of the kings and for producers in Turkey today, the vegetable is still perceived to be a luxury.

1 Artichoke per person, per year

Turkey is the world’s seventh biggest artichoke producer. Of the 25,000 tons of production, a significant amount is realised in Izmir’s Cesme and Karaburun districts. Izmir is followed by the Adana and Mersin regions.

However consumption is neither at the producers’ nor markets’ expected level. The website tarlasera.com spoke to Ersin Yavas, an artichoke grower in Cesme, “In Mediterranean countries an average of 5 artichokes are consumed per person per year, we haven’t even reached half that amount in recent years,” he said.

Preserved consumption increases

Most artichokes consumed in the Mediterranean are preserved. This reduces the effort of preparing the product and brings it closer to the consumer. According to Yavas, more canning factories in Turkey are processing artichokes and this is good news for developing demand out of season.

Sakiz artichokes high costs

Two types of artichokes are produced in Turkey: Sakiz and Bayrampasa. Bayrampasa artichokes are known as local artichokes. Sakiz artichokes are famous for their flavour, but they are rather expensive to produce. Yavas says that they cost more that 300 Euro per decare to produce due to the cost of workers and other inputs, which is why Sakiz artichoke production does not increase.