Founder of Kalinex Fruit, Yigit Aslan, a Turkish business concerned with exporting fruit from the Mersin area, operates in different countries of the world and for each destination it ships different productions.
In Italy, in particular, Aslan says the business exports grapefruits from October to the beginning of May, lemons from September to the beginning of November, pomegranates from October to the end of February, cherries from June to July 20-22.
”For the Italian market we export large volumes of black figs, from August to October. For northern Europe we have started the watermelon export campaign”, he says.
“Grapefruit exports on the Italian market performed well, customers appreciated the product and prices were more stable than last year, without swings. The same is true for lemons and pomegranates.
”We are waiting to export our Napoleon and Z900 cherries, whose cultivation campaign has been optimal, with an adequate quality. We are almost ready and can’t wait to get going.”
The company has two different warehouses: one for black figs in Bursa, the other one for citrus in Mersin.
A company has also been set up in Poland, Benny Fruit Sp. Z.o.o, which works 80% with European supermarkets: here the product is cleared through customs, selected and delivered to customers throughout Europe, through Yilmaz International Transport, which owns 52 refrigerated trucks.
“This way we don’t have to send full trucks, but we are more flexible in shipping and logistics”, Aslan comments.
Export to the Far East
“We also export citrus by sea to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. By air we started a week ago with strawberries, peaches, nectarines and apricots. With Napoleon and Z900 cherries we will start in about 20 days,” Aslan explains.
“There is a great demand for these products and we are very satisfied so far. For Far Eastern countries, packaging for fruit and vegetables is very important, almost more than the taste of the fruit and vegetables. The very nice appearance guarantees sales,” concludes the founder of Kalinex Fruit.
