The Turkish blueberry season has gone quite well, says Gizem Büyükkeskin, COO of Turkish blueberry grower and marketer Qualitas Berry. However, the busiest time of the season is still approaching: “The weather here is very mild, which favors the early harvest of blueberries in Turkey. In the coming weeks we hope to harvest about ten tons of fruit a day. “The period in which our harvest will be most intense is around May and June. We hope to harvest 600 tons of product for the entire season.”

Büyükkeskin believes that Turkish blueberries are gaining popularity in several markets. “The feedback we are receiving now shows that demand for blueberries will be very intense. The evolution of blueberries in Türkiye is attracting a lot of attention and the market seems to be growing gradually. For now, we are getting very good feedback from Dubai. , Russia, Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as our own country. As you can understand, this makes us very happy.”

There have been no major difficulties in the season so far, as the weather has been positive during the blueberry harvest, explains Büyükkeskin: “So far we have not faced any difficult situations. Nature supports us during our season. harvest season in terms of climate. We are proceeding very carefully in all of our orchards. We are very sensitive to the correct management of the harvest, we control pests in the right way and we organize training and update information at every stage.”

Prices have cooled down a bit since the start of the Turkish season. “Our blueberry season began in January and the price was 15 euros per kilo, considering packaged products of 125 grams. Currently, it continues at 9 euros per kilo. The most important evolution that we have noticed this year is the increase in blueberry consumption. "In Türkiye. Our prediction for the rest of the season is that prices will be around 7-8 euros per kilogram, again considering 125 gram packaged products,” concludes Büyükkeskin.