Japanese to get a taste for Turkey’s ‘şalgam’

Sadi Özdemir ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

Turkish beverage producer Doğanay, which established its first şalgam suyu, or beet juice, factory in Adana in 1996, expects to see $60 million Turkish Liras in turnover this year, and plans to enter the Japanese market in October.

Şalgam juice is a traditional drink from the region of Adana in southern Turkey.

Şalgam juice exports began to pick up in 2001, and Doğanay produced 66 million liters of the beet juice last year. The company already exports to Europe, and had 2.5 million liras in exports last year, said Rafet Doğanay, one of the two Doğanay brothers who run the company. Now Doğanay has its sights set on Japan, and will begin exporting to the country next month.

In 2011, the company brought in 42 million liras in revenue, and this number is expected to grow to 60 million liras in 2012 and 100 million liras in 2013, Doğanay said.

“In addition to şalgam, we produce lemon juice, lemonade, and vinegar, but 65 percent of our production is still şalgam juice,” said Doğanay. The company employs 225 people and has invested 30 million euros to date, on infrastructure such as refrigerated storage units. Doğanay produces 66 million liters of şalgam juice per year and 40-45 million liters of other products.