ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLE POTENTIAL AT RETAIL CHANNEL IN TURKEY

Abstract

Organic farming activities starting in the 1980s in Turkey and developed by the years so that it has become an important sector recently. But the market for organic goods in Turkey, although small, is growing and has great potential for future. Organic farming, which started with foreign market demand, accelerated with interest of domestic consumers that emerged as a necessity for the distribution channels to meet this demand. Hence, export potential and higher profit of organic farm products aimed to producers towards organic farming system. Most of the organic production in Turkey is targeted for export, with the European Union as the largest potential market. Despite support and efforts to promote organic production, domestic consumption and awareness of organic products remains relatively limited.

Organic farming also support sustainability of agricultural production and natural resources. At this work, world and domestic trade system of organic farming products examined regarding flow of distribution. Furthermore, marketing issues of these organic products at the retail level should be evaluated. At the result of this paper, Turkey has a better share of organic products’ market on the world trade. Due to opportunity of the increasing domestic demand, retailers should be more emphasize and manage the organic food category line.