Chinese consumers will soon be eating Turkish cherries
China has been so far importing cherries from the US, Chile, Canada and Australia. However Turkish…China has been so far importing cherries from the US, Chile, Canada and Australia. However Turkish growers have been focused on entering this market recently and their efforts have started to bare fruits.
The cherry season finishes in April in Chile whereas it starts in May in Turkey, thus Chile is not a direct competitor of Turkish growers. Turkish growers are confident that they can compete with other cherry growers from other countries in terms of price and quality.
4 tons of cherries are already on their way to China, to 4 different customers, and this first order might be just the start of a much larger trade between both countries. The exported variety is Ziraat 900 Napoleon and the growers are expecting bigger and more frequent orders next season.
Cherry exports are one of the items in the Plant Health Protocol agreement signed with China. The most difficult stipulation in that agreement, for Turkish growers, was the limitation of the maximum cold storage period to just 16 days.
Source: Haberturk