Türkiye’s coffee consumption on rise
Şenay Büyükköşdere - ISTANBUL
Türkiye, which is one of the countries with the highest tea consumption per capita in the world, has also stepped up in coffee consumption in the last decade.
The sector, which has become active with the increase in the number of third-generation coffee shops, continues to grow rapidly despite the increase in coffee prices worldwide.
Mehmet Kurukahveci, chairman of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, which operates in the coffee market in Türkiye, stated that there has been a huge increase in raw coffee imported to Türkiye, up to four times in the last 10 years.
“The raw coffee import, which was 17,000 tons in 2011, reached 30,000 tons in 2014 and 70,000 tons in 2022. Since there is no domestic production of coffee, it would not be wrong to say that the consumption has increased in the same amount,’’ he said.
Noting that the new coffee shops, which are described as third-generation coffee shops, have expanded the sector in recent years, Kurukahveci said that Turkish coffee still maintains its weight as the most consumed coffee in Türkiye.
“Nielsen data says that Turkish coffee is consumed at a rate of approximately 70 percent in our country,” he added.
Kurukahveci said that global coffee prices increased four to five times in the last few years due to the frost in Brazil in 2019 and then the
“Climate is very decisive for coffee prices,” he said. “There was no frost this year. Right now, prices have stabilized at a certain point, even come back a bit.”
Mehmet Kurukahveci said that Türkiye could be among the coffee-producing countries in the medium term.
“We have also been supporting the trials of a farmer named Yaşar Dağtekin in Antalya Gazipaşa since 2019,” he said.
“Nearly 200 coffee seedlings have been planted under the greenhouse on an area of four decares. The seedlings are only two years old, but some of them have started to bear fruit. The first results are very positive. This coffee we produce in Gazipaşa has a very good aroma. Of course, it will take a long time to reach a level that will meet our needs, but if these production trials are successful, interest in coffee farming may increase.”
