Vocational and Technical Training for the Development and Marketing of Innovative Fig Products

Thanks to its deep-rooted culture and favorable climate conditions, Turkey is the world's largest fig producer and exporter with approximately 10 million fig trees and an annual fig production of ...

Thanks to its deep-rooted culture and favorable climate conditions, Turkey is the world's largest fig producer and exporter with approximately 10 million fig trees and an annual fig production of approximately 300,000 tons. Our country accounts for 59.5% of the world's dried fig exports of 153,112.47 tons. Our country ranks first in dried fig exports. However, exporting figs only as dried figs reduces the potential to bring much more income to our country and producers and increase competitive power through the export of possible value-added products. With this project, we aimed to develop value-added products, increase the skills of sector employees in developing new products and develop their ability to market their products. The activities implemented within the scope of the project, meetings held with young/female entrepreneurs and small factory owners in rural areas, on-site visits and training activities have enabled us to achieve this goal.

Aydın fig became the first product to receive the EU origin mark by receiving a geographical indication certificate in 2006 and the European Union Registration in 2016. Aydın is the leading province in terms of both fig production area and the number of fruit trees. The inability to transform figs into innovative value-added products, poor marketing strategies, inadequate and ineffective advertising and promotion activities, production management, and marketing of Turkish figs in foreign markets jeopardize Türkiye's current competitive power in the world market. Therefore, first of all, within the scope of the project, it was aimed for the team consisting of FRI and Söke TAYEM to receive training in Italy and to provide training to the target audience as a result of the training received, and an application was made for this purpose. With the project, a new value-added product was developed, this product was introduced, the new product development skills of the people in the sector were increased and product marketing strategies were developed. In addition, companies have developed alternative products specifically for the fig product and added new value-added products to the product options they market.

Fruity Fig Dream