A new page is being opened in the GAP region in pomegranate, whose cultivation area has expanded the most with unplanned production in Turkey in the last 20 years and then the orchards were uprooted when they did not meet expectations. With an investment of 105 million TL, pomegranate juice, extract and fresh fruit will be exported in Şanlıurfa with the co-operation of Raz Gıda and Konfrut GAP.

Pomegranate, whose plantation area has expanded the most with unplanned production in Turkey in the last 20 years and then the gardens were uprooted when they did not meet expectations, is opening a new page in the GAP region. With an investment of 105 million TL, pomegranate juice, extract and fresh fruit will be exported with the co-operation of Raz Gıda and Konfrut GAP in Şanlıurfa.

Turkey ranks third in the pomegranate trade in the world. In pomegranate, which has experienced an unplanned production boom in the last 20 years, the lack of investments in the industrial foot caused many producers to uproot their gardens. Pomegranate, which was mainly exported fresh before, is opening a new page in the GAP region.

With the modern facility established with an investment of 105 million liras in cooperation with Raz Gıda and Konfrut GAP operating in Şanlıurfa, pomegranate juice, oil from pomegranate seeds, pomegranate extract and fresh fruit will be exported. With this investment, it is aimed to make pomegranate more value-added and to utilise it more in international markets. Approximately 10 thousand tonnes of pomegranate is produced annually in Şanlıurfa.

In this direction, a meeting was held with pomegranate producers at Harran University. The event aimed to strengthen cooperation between Harran University Faculty of Agriculture, pomegranate producers, agricultural experts and local authorities. Organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture, Raz Food and Agriculture and Konfrut GAP, ‘Pomegranate Producers Meeting’ brought together experts and producers to exchange information on the future of pomegranate production, market trends and technological developments in the sector.

Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar, Şanlıurfa Deputy Governor Onur Şatıroğlu, Şanlıurfa Provincial Director Mehmet Aksoy, Konfrut Gap Chairman Ali Ağan, Raz Food and Agriculture, Konfrut GAP managers, representatives of public institutions, pomegranate producers, farmers and students attended the programme. After the opening speeches, the panel with two sessions started.


Farmers met at the panel

Moderated by Emrah İnce, Founding President of YeniÇiftçi Platform, both panels addressed important issues such as global trends in pomegranate production and Turkey's critical role in pomegranate exports. Prof. Dr. Hasan Vardin from Harran University Food Engineering Department gave detailed information about the historical importance of pomegranate and its health benefits, while Döhler General Manager Can Aydemir emphasised why pomegranate consumption is on the rise in global markets and Turkey's strategic position in meeting this demand. Aydemir also stated that they process 500 thousand tonnes of fruit annually with their 5 production facilities and R&D in Turkey.

In the second panel, more technical aspects of pomegranate cultivation were discussed. Experts addressed issues such as soil selection, irrigation techniques, pest control and organic farming. They emphasised sustainable practices in organic pomegranate production and methods for maintaining quality during harvest. In addition, he made a detailed presentation on Agricultural Technologies and Digitalisation: The Use of Digital Technologies in Agriculture and Ways to Increase Efficiency.

Co-operation with Döhler in plant investment
Stating that they firstly contract squeeze first class products with sunburn, crown breakage and cosmetic defects, Ağan said that they turn these products into concentrate and pomegranate syrup. Stating that they produce pomegranate syrup with zero additives, Ali Ağan said, ‘Besides, we have a fruit juice capacity of approximately 15 thousand tonnes.
We also have a production capacity of 5 thousand tonnes of pomegranate syrup and we sell it in leading chain markets. We also export to the UK and Canada. Today, we export products to Europe, North America and Asia. We also sell fresh pomegranate syrup by granulating it during this process. While doing all these, we were working with Konfrut group. We are both customers and sellers of each other. As a result of the cooperation with Konfrut, we made an additional new investment of 105 million liras.
We are currently establishing our bottling line for the fruit juice plant with additional investment. With this new investment, our plant has reached an investment of approximately 450 million and the investment will continue further. The investment of Konfrut and Döhler Group will attract many investments to the region. We have started to employ dozens of agricultural engineers, food engineers and food technicians from Harran University here. Together with seasonal workers, we employ an average of 200 people annually. In this sense, our facility will be the only facility in the region in terms of fruit juice on the pomegranate side.’
Filling the capacity in 3 years
Ali Ağan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Konfrut Gap, who stated that he came from a family from Şanlıurfalı and returned after working in the telecoms sector abroad for 15 years, stated that he started farming in the pomegranate gardens planted by his father, but with the increase in production, they came to the point of cutting the trees due to low prices. Stating that they did not cut down the trees and turned to the cold storage investment pointed out by his father, Ağan said, ‘We invested in a modern warehouse with a capacity of one thousand 500 tonnes in the first stage.
Thanks to the integrated structure of our facility, we started to supply products to Turkey's leading chain markets. Last year, we processed approximately 5 thousand tonnes of pomegranate products, but we did not include fruit juice in this last season. This year, with the launch of fruit juice, we will buy 15 thousand tonnes of pomegranate. Our newly established facility has a processing capacity of 50 thousand tonnes of pomegranate. We aim to increase it to 25 thousand tonnes next year and reach full capacity in 3 years.’