Turkish food makers shine at Paris fair

Nuriye Doğu PARIS / Radikal

Turkey is the third biggest participant in the world’s largest food exhibition, which opened its doors on Oct. 22 in Paris.

A total of 256 Turkish firms are attending the International Food and Beverage Exhibition (SIAL), which covers more than 9,000 square meters of exhibition ground. Some 5,900 firms from 100 countries are participating in SIAL this year.

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) has organized Turkey’s participation in SIAL since 1988.
“In 1988, we took up 82.5 square meters of fair ground with 10 Turkish companies,” İTO President Murat Yalçıntaş said.

“In 2010, 128 Turkish companies covered a combined fair ground of 4,356 square meters, and this year we hit a record [in terms of the area of fair ground and the number of participant companies]. The total fair ground is 9,000 square meters with 208 companies. There are also 48 Turkish companies attending the event independently,” he said.

The diversity of products that Turkish companies present at SIAL is remarkable, according to Yalçıntaş, adding that Turkey exports more than 200 types of organic food products.

“This means it is not possible to set a game in the global food sector without Turkey. Our second advantage is the geographical location of Turkey. The short-term goal should be $20 billion [in exports],” he said.