A Win-Win Relationship between Producers' Unions and Supermarket Chains in Turkish Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Sector

by Sylvaine LEMEILLEUR and Selma TOZANLI, UMR MOISA, Montpellier

Communications at the International seminar USAID Regional Consultation on linking farmers to markets. Caïro, Egypt 28 January - 3 February 2006

Abstract

The rapid growth of supermarkets in Turkey during these recent years could offer new marketing opportunities for producers, in particular for fresh fruits and vegetables supply, for which proximity may be a source of better freshness quality (Dries and al., 2004). Moreover FFV growing could increase significantly farmers' income with intensive production systems since a majority of producers in Turkey are very small landholders. Thus, FFV sector is a highly relevant subject to study as the paper focuses specifically on market access of small producers.

However, the FFV marketing in Turkey is highly regulated. Since 1995, a market regulation law obliges all FFV to pass through wholesale markets under commissioners' control. Otherwise, the law allows "Producers' Unions" to market their produce without passing through wholesale markets.

In this research work, which is part of the international project "Regoverning markets", the main assumption of the authors is that both supermarkets and producers in Turkey have interest in contracting with each other through Producers' Unions, because they reduce their marketing costs related to transaction fees.

Actually, it can be observed that supermarket chains seem looking for this kind of direct linkages.

Most of the difficulties come from the producers who can not organize themselves around unions.

The present paper focuses on, the "success story" of a Village Development Cooperative that became a "Producers' Union" since 1995, and contracts directly with supermarkets. This case illustrates a "win-win" relationship between producers and buyers.Full paper at http://eumed-agpol.iamm.fr/html/publications/partners/lemeilleurtozanli.pdf