Aiming to be the second largest olive oil producer in the world, Turkish producers increased promotional activities in selected export markets. Formed by the initiatives of producers and chambers of industry the promotional committee for olive and olive oil, ZZTK, has recently participated in Expo 2015 Milano, held in 15th to 31st of August, to introduce Turkish olive products. Visited by about 200 thousand people daily ZZTK booth in Expo Milano introduced Turkish olives and olive oil to visitors coming from all over the world.
Chairman of the committee, M. Kadri Gundes, emphasized on the fact that Italy and Spain are major countries highly active in world olive and olive oil markets. He pointed out the importance of showing up with Turkish products beside Italian and Spanish olives. He said, “Anatolia is also the homeland for olive trees. The oldest known olive oil processing workshop of 6th century B.C., the Klazomenai, was in Urla, Izmir (Smyrna). It shows that olive oil originates from Anatolia.
We also screened the documentaries on Adatepe Olive Oil Museum that having guests since 2001 in Canakkale, and Oleatrium Olive Oil Museum in Kusadası, the largest olive oil museum in Europe that has been visited by thousands of visitors since 2011. We distributed promotional memorabilia and publications informing about Turkish olive and olive products.” Chairman of the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters, Emre Uygun informed that Turkey targeted to be the leader in the production of tabletop olives in the world with 1.2 million tons of production by the year 2023, and to be the second largest producer of olive oil with 650 thousand tons of production. He added, “We have been continuing our efforts to promotion of Turkish olive products in the world to improve our position in world markets in line with increasing productivity and value of production.
Expo Milano is a right platform for this aim. Its main theme is the energy for life and to feed the world. This exactly defines the role of olive oil. We have made a special stand to introduce Turkish olive and olive oil and become one of the most attractive booths in the fair. It was a successful event for Turkish producers.”
