Türkiye caters to 90 pct of world’s bay leaf needs

SAMSUN

A producer who started collecting bay leaves 30 years ago has turned it into a successful business supporting local women workers in the northern province of Samsun, where bay leaf production is done on a large scale and exported worldwide.

Hakkı Karaman, the president of 19 Mayıs Ecological Producers Education and Solidarity Association, turned bay leaves he started collecting 30 years ago from the forests in the district into a source of income.

The facility he established in 19 Mayıs district dries 1 ton of fresh bay leaves daily. Local women workers then carry out the packaging of the leaves according to the needs of the supplier companies.

Explaining that bay tree seedlings are distributed free of charge to producers in order to popularize production, Karaman said, "Six different types of bay were identified in our region. We also extract the oil from bay leaves."

"Bay has a very high oil content. We have learned that bay oil is mostly used in medicine and has active ingredients that help to destroy the virus during the pandemic. Therefore, Europe is very focused on this product," he said.

"Bay leaves can be harvested for 12 months, providing a continuous income rather than a seasonal one. We learned that bay has a market value and Türkiye caters to 90 percent of the world's bay leaf needs,” Karaman said.

“We have a daily drying capacity of 1 ton of fresh bay leaves, and we employ 20 people for 12 months,” he added.

Noting that it can be planted in non-agricultural lands in order to generate income, Karaman said, "Bay leaves are mostly used in the production of cosmetics, shampoos, soaps and spices."

"In order to expand production, we produce seedlings from the bay seeds and distribute them free of charge to farmers who want to produce in our region. Our target for 2023 was to distribute 200,000 seedlings, and we are preparing to distribute 500,000 seedlings in 2024,” he concluded.