Preparations for the year 2023 are going on celebrating centennial of Turkish republic in all industries and the economy in general. Hidayet Kadiroglu, president of promotional committee for Turkish delight, answered our questions about the segment that has experienced a growth of 20 percent. “The sector will grow three folds in line with the growth of the national economy,” he says.
On the position of Turkey in terms of candies in the world
We, as promotional committee, define Turkey as “DelightLand” of the world. The category, with all its products and its tastes originating from magnificent dishes of Turkish cuisine has a high power of attraction. Known as “Turkish Delight” the national candy, lokum, is a symbolic product that has strong associations with Turkey.
The word delight has strong connotations with positive emotions including hedonism, self-flattering, entertainment, comfort, relief, and seclusions. When mentioned ‘Turkish Delight’, it means all of these. We accept the word delight as an umbrella term for our business and products. We want that Turkey is to be remembered when the word delight was heard. Like cigar means Cuba or vice versa. Turkey has advantages in this regard because there are wide range of products and tastes depending on different climates and geography. Almost every province has its own local sweets. Thus we are the natural candidates to be known as the DelighLand in the world. We have to protect these valuable tastes and to develop them to address modern needs in of global consumers.
On sector’s performance in 2014
The segment is exporting it products about 200 countries including neighboring and regional countries. Investments are promising for further progresses.
Despite the problems, insecurities and skirmishes in our north and south, the sweet industry has managed to grow three fold than the growth of national economy. Exports of the sector were about 2.5 billion dollars level. In 2014 it rose to 2.7 billion. For the year 2023, our target is 10 million dollars. We aimed to realize a 20 % annual growth.
On the activities of promotional committee for candies
STG, sweet promotional group, was established by the participation of six exporter unions to support the activities of sweets, chocolates and biscuits producers in world markets in their efforts to increase the presence and brand awareness in 2012. Several activities have been realized since than including the participating in the events and fairs in our field.
We participated in leading fairs including ISM, Sial, Gulfood to enter new markets such as South American countries. We have both tactics and strategic vision for our efforts. We organized our first workshop at the end of 2014. We prepared a strategic promotional document by the participations of brand and marketing experts and representatives of companies. We will share the results of this document with our members and other stakeholders in the industry.
Our target is so clear: We aimed to increase the awareness about Turkish sweeties industries in the world by emphasizing the fact that Turkey is the best source of supply for global sweet needs.
