NEWSROOM

Recep Acar made evaluations on the natural and organic product market.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
Google Translate Application translates the content you see on this page.***

ISTANBUL (TR) - Recep Acar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Recep Acar Dairy Products, stated that the demand for natural dairy products increased during the pandemic process, and said that the biggest problem of the sector is fraudulent products. He said, “The sale of fraudulent products must be prevented. Many products are sold as natural and organic products, but you need to investigate them to see if they are really additive-free.”

Recep Acar made evaluations on the natural and organic product market. Acar emphasized that the ecosystem is growing at an average rate of 15 percent every year in the world, noting that the demand for natural products is increasing with the Covid-19 pandemic, and gave the following information about the ecosystem: “The organic product market in Turkey is increasing with an upward momentum every year. In Europe, the largest market after America, about $10 billion in new demand for organic products is expected in the coming years. Turkey is one of the largest suppliers of organic food in Europe.”

"The reliability of dairy products must be questioned”

Recep Acar pointed out that many food products are sold under the name “organic” and “natural” on many e-commerce sites in Turkey. Emphasizing the importance of consumers questioning whether dairy products are healthy and reliable, Acar said: “Many products are sold in markets, deli and e-commerce sites as natural or organic products. But you need to investigate them to see if these are really unadulterated products. Doped products are sent as old cheddar cheese.”

Recep Acar continued his words as follows: “For example, our region has the famous Erzurum Shavak tulum cheese. We ferment this cheese with Shirden yeast, sweeten it with Kemah salt and produce it without the use of cow's milk. We make this cheese from the milk we get from the Nomads in the mountains who live at an altitude of 2500-3000 meters. We only use sheep and goat's milk in it, ripen it and sell it. So this cheese has a natural production process. In the same way, Erzurum natural butter is produced by special methods. We produce our butter from milk skimming without using additive protective colouring. Our old cheddar is again produced from fresh milk without using additive protective coloring; we offer it for sale by keeping it for at least 10 months. Erzurum mouldy cheese is produced by mixing civil cheese and lorun and maturing together. Consumers who buy products without knowing them to buy cheeses that they can find in each grocery store as village-type cheese.”

"Do not mislead the consumer with expressions such as natural, village product!”

Stating that they have been serving in Erzurum dairy products sector since 1980, Acar noted that they do not use any chemicals and additives harmful to human health in their production processes. Acar, describing that they provide processing, storage, packaging, labeling and marketing without harming nature, said: “The most problem of the sector is fraudulent products. Natural products are products that need to be taken care of in sales and marketing processes. Not every product called’ organic ' is organic or ecological. Do not mislead the consumer with expressions such as natural, organic, village product! Consumers may have purchased a chemical-added product as a natural product. For this reason, the sale of fraudulent products should be prevented; the sale of all products that threaten human health should be prohibited.”

“We don't sell anything we don't eat”

“We sell all-natural products. We don't sell anything we don't eat.” Recep Acar gave the following information about the production processes of natural dairy products; “We produce natural cheese and butter products with traditional production processes in a hygienic environment in a closed area of 5 thousand square meters in Erzurum, providing both the domestic and foreign markets with completely natural and fraudulent products. In addition to our physical store, our e-commerce site for the last 3 years recepacarsut.com we also deliver dairy products such as Erzurum cheese to a wide audience. By buying quality milk from milk providers, we produce our products ourselves. Milk from the cow comes to our facility in a cold chain as soon as possible.”

Because of the nature of organic products, there are some problems in the logistics of remote regions; when these problems are solved, they want to make e-exports, Acar said about the delivery of natural organic products such as kelle cheddar cheese varieties and genuine alcohol beans sold on e-commerce sites; “Our cold products are vacuumed in hygienic conditions in the first place and placed in heat-insulated Styrofoam foam boxes. For food safety, we put ice batteries in packages that last up to 60 hours. The styrofoam box and ice battery are placed in a different box and sent. Thus, the cargo can remain intact for up to 5 days. We can make fast shipping in 24 hours with suitable packaging for cold chain.”