Food Turkey Magazine September 2017

Within the framework of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) data calculated
regarding TURKSTAT’s expenditure
method, Turkish economy has
grown 2.3 times compared to current
prices between 2009 and 2015, and
has increased from 999 billion TL to
2,338 billion TL, while Food and Drink
Industry grew by 2.2 times to TL 321
billion from TL 145 billion.
“Food is one of the
locomotive sectors of the
economy”
According to TGDF Secretary General
İlknur Menlik, the food sector is one of
the locomotive sectors of the Turkish
economy with both the value added
and export volume it has created: “The
value added created by food and beverage
industry enterprises increased by
15.6 percent and reached 27 billion TL
in 2015.”
The Turkish food sector is one of the
leading sectors in terms of foreign trade
surplus. Food and beverage exports
decreased by 6.9 percent to USD 11
billion and imports declined by 2.5 percent
to USD 5.6 billion in 2016 due to
Russian embargo and conflicts in surrounding
regions. In 2016, the foreign
trade surplus was 5.6 billion dollars and
the foreign trade coverage rate was
199.6 percent.
“Turkey is cheaper than
European countries”
Menlik, drawing attention to the index
results of the price levels of food and
nonalcoholic beverages in 37 European
countries including Turkey, said that the
most expensive country has been Switzerland
with an index value of 172.2
in 2015, and the cheapest country has
been Macedonia with 58. Price index
in Turkey became 89.2, below the EU
average, and Turkey ranked 23rd.
Increase in food prices
Menlik, who also shares data on price
changes in foods and drinks, said that
year-on-year increases in food and
nonalcoholic beverage prices in 2016
were lower than in the same month of
the previous year, except for January
and July, according to the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) announced by Turkish
Statistics Agency Turkstat.
“The Food Price Index of UN Food
and Agriculture Organization, which reflects
the price changes in the international
trade of the five main commodities
on a monthly basis, namely grain,
meat, dairy products, vegetable oil and
sugar, closed 2016 with a decline for
the fifth consecutive year. However, the
index, which made a rapid start to the
year 2017, reached its highest level in
last two years in February with 175.5
points.
It should be kept in mind that changes
in global food prices have taken place
parallel to global supply expectations
of FAO and other international organizations
regarding the five product
groups. Indeed, the reasons behind the
decline in prices in 2015 are stated
as the strong supply growth, weakening
demand due to the general economic
slowdown, low oil prices and
already high stocks, according to the
2016-2025 OECD-FAO Agricultural
Outlook Report.” said TGDF Secretary
General Menlik.
TGDF Chairman Şemsi
Kopuz “Food is a field where
everyone states an opinion”
TGDF Chairman Şemsi Kopuz, who
started his speech by expressing the
pleasure of being together with the
members of the media before the
month of Ramadan, said that the country
passed through quite a difficult period
but very fortunately this period was
left behind together as a nation.
“Unfortunately food is a field where
everyone has an opinion, but no one’s
level of knowledge is questioned. This
is natural, because food is at the top
of topics that occupy the largest space
in our lives. If we assume that we eat
3 meals a day, this means we think of
“food” at least 3 times a day. In other
words, our industry occupies space on
everyone’s agenda at least 3 times a
day. So everyone states an opinion regardless
of their knowledge. Especially
lately, food prices are being discussed
a lot.”
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