Fruit juice giants will gather in Turkey

The "Bridging juice with science, health and technology" congress organized by the International Federation of Fruit Juice Producers, or IFU, will be held in Istanbul between May 2 and 7.

Some 200 people are expected to come to the city from abroad to participate in the congress, while 150 locals are expected, said Alaaddin Güç, chairman of Fruit Juice Industry Association, or MEYED, earlier this week.

“MEYED two years ago sent in a request to hold this congress in Istanbul. Without any debates we decided to hold the congress here,” said Bruno Jud, chairman of IFU. “Istanbul’s vicinity to energy resources, its position as a bridge between Anatolia and Thrace, its high agricultural production power as well as its young and educated population are the reasons why we selected Turkey to be the destination of our congress.”

Turkey plays an important role in fruit juice production and the country holds a great potential, Jud said. Even following a tough year like 2009, the fruit juice sector in the country has managed to obtain some growth. That is quite important, he added.

The world’s fruit juice market’s turnover stands at around 60 billion euros, said Jud. Turkey may become a fruit juice exporter for European countries, he said. “However, I can’t really tell how long that may take. I believe it may take anywhere between two to five years.

“It is very important for a country that produces fruit to also produce fruit juice,” he said. “It is important for Turkey to increase its fruit juice production capacity. However, expecting to become a massive monopoly would be a far-fetched, unrealistic scenario as European countries themselves are producers of fruit juice.”

“China is the most important producer of oranges. We think that it is planning to significantly increase its production of both oranges and orange juice. Meanwhile, Turkey has great potential in the production and export of apricot, cherry and pomegranate juices,” said Jud.

According to Ebru Akdağ, secretary-general of MEYED, the rapidly expanding Turkish fruit juice market showed a growth of nearly 9 percent last year, while the EU market experienced a 0.4 percent contraction, she added. This year the consumption is expected to return to 20 percent growth levels like a few years ago.