Turkey Fig Guide

How is the harvest/processing of Turkiye Figs?

Figs are mostly picked when a stage of full ripeness occurs. Unlike other fruits, figs do not ripen after harvest, and the timing of the harvest must be right. Also, the handling of fruits must be done carefully to avoid bruising. Figs, sorted according to their size and filled into plastic containers or crates, are taken by the suppliers coming to the region and offered to the domestic market. For some variates of figs, like yellow figs, growers wait until the fruit fall to the ground, and then the sun dries the fig.

How Is the Supply Chain Structured for Turkiye Dried Figs?

Grower-> Local Trader-> Packing house/Exporter -> Importer-> Wholesaler/Retailer -> Consumer

Growers sell dried figs to the packing house/exporter. Usually, more prominent exporters have their in-house production. Due to a vast number of growers (over 100K families growing figs), packing houses don’t have contracts with the growers, which makes collecting figs from these farms difficult. Small farms, and lower production, makes logistic regarding transportation and supply time-consuming. On the other side, organic fig growers sign contracts with factories. Still, the production share of organic figs makes less than 5% of total fig production. Local traders collect figs from local farmers and resell larger volumes to the packing houses. The packing centers will sort, shape, wash, etc., the figs and afterward export dried figs. The export season usually starts around the end of September. Most buyers of dried figs are agent/importer companies.

Turkiye Figs Production and Varieties

Source: GungorKaya

The main production area of Turkish figs is in Western Turkiye in the cities Aydin and Izmir, and almost 85% of figs are made in this area. Dried fig production mainly takes place in this region, with the main variates Sarilop and Sari Zeybek being the most popular fig fruits for drying in Turkey. Use is primarily for exports. 57% of Turkiye's fresh and 85% of dried figs are produced in Aydın. 60% of the world's dried figs are also made in Aydın.

Due to climatic conditions, figs are ripe in Turkiye twice a year, in summer and autumn. The first so-called "breba”, season is lower in volume and starts around June, ending in early July. Second harvest called also the "new wood" usually last from August until November. West Turkiye, with areas around Aydin dominate in production of fresh and dried figs. Most common variates used are: Black Mission, Bursa Siyahi (Black Bursa), Brown Turkiye and Green Kadota fig. The Sarilop (Calimyrna) is the most popular variety used for drying, while the most in-demand is Lerida. Peak export season starts in August and ends in November. -The most popular fresh variety is the Bursa Siyahi (Black Bursa).

Source: Tridge

Source: Tridge

In 2021, Germany was a number one importer of Turkish dried figs with 20.52% share in Turkiey export and with a total value of USD 67.98M. France and the US achieved 12.3 and 10.6% of market share, with USD 40.77M and USD 35.1M in 2021.

Regarding the export of dried figs from Turkiey, season 2021/22 which started on W1 of October 21, 62K mt were exported until the end of July 22, accounting for USD 232M export value, a slight increase compared to the same period last year when it was USD 230M. The number one destination country for 2022 was France, with USD 31.4M import value, followed by Germany with USD 30.8M and the US with USD 30.3M. Italy with USD 14.2M and Canada with USD 12.5M import value of dried figs complete the top five trading countries.

Required documents for import to the EU

Given that Turkiye is a joining member of EU, and part of European Union Customs Union, it means that there are no custom expense. 

An invoice and a packing list are needed to import from Turkiye and go through customs. A certificate of origin or other documents, e.g., a certificate of compliance, is required.

Import from Turkiye to the USA – customs

Traders should take notice that codes used in the EU and the US are not identical. The US uses the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes, which are listed on the official website. Regarding the US, no particular documents confirming goods’ preferential status, such as A.TR, are needed. However, shipments from Turkey to the US must be accompanied by a commercial invoice and a bill of lading or air waybill. Other documents can involve a Certificate of Origin, import licenses, phytosanitary certificates, etc.

1. South Korea 

 Export Potential: 3.3M

Actual Exports: 2.0M

Untapped Potential: 1.6M

-South Korea has wildly fluctuating demand, but could potentially be a decent new market for Turkish exporters to break into because there is hardly any competition

-The strong majority of South Korea’s dried fig import though comes from Turkey so there may be base credibility

2. Japan

 Export Potential: 15.7M

Actual Exports: 11M

Untapped Potential: 7.3M

-Japan seems to have fairly steady demand, but could potentially be another decent new market for Turkish exporters to break into because there is hardly any competition

-The strong majority of Japan’s dried fig import also comes from Turkey so there may be base credibility

3. China

 Export Potential: 10.6M

Actual Exports: 4.3M

Untapped Potential: 6.2M

-China’s import trend seems to follow the rest of the EU, but there is hardly any competition from other exporters as well

-The strong majority of China’s dried fig import also comes from Turkey so there may be base credibility