Christmas candy is on the counter up 32 percent

In Turkey, which is preparing for a dismal holiday after the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, price increases that cannot be stopped will again bring longer holidays. Although the price per kilogram of Christmas sweets, which was 75 TL last year, increased by 32 percent to 99 TL this year, consumption is expected to remain the same.

İhsan Karagöz, General Manager of Mondelez International Turkey, which also includes Kentish sweets, said that they expected an increase in family visits due to the effect of the earthquake and that there was not a full festive atmosphere during the holidays, which was combined with the holidays. schoolchildren. this year. The size of the gift and confectionery market in Turkey is 1.2 billion TL. The total consumption of Christmas sweets in Turkey is 24-26 thousand tons. We expect 1-2 percent growth this year. The price of sugar, which was 75 TL last year, is 99 TL this year.”

ON HOLIDAYS ON HOLIDAYS

Noting that the annual consumption of Christmas sweets per household in Turkey is 2.47 kilograms and that 81 percent of the souvenirs and sweets purchased during this period are made up of Christmas sweet products, Karagöz noted that the proportion of consumption of sugar in the regions affected by the earthquake increased to 14 percent.

Noting that consumption may shift to cities like Adana and Iskenderun due to internal migration, Karagöz said, “We sell Christmas sweets at 40,000 outlets, including 10,000 traditional and 30,000 modern outlets. Christmas sweets increase from holiday to holiday. 7 thousand people are involved in the sale process, ”he said.

we can’t pick up

Stating that they are trying to attract new investment from Turkey to Europe and the US, İhsan Karagöz said that they are competing with countries like Canada and England, not countries like China and Taiwan. Karagöz drew attention to the fact that the most important problem in Turkey is being able to collect, “It is very difficult to collect money in Turkey. Collection days are very long and in such an inflationary country. Since there is a maturity problem in Turkey, we also have maturities between 60 and 90.”

Gums don’t grow in the US.

İhsan Karagöz, noting that there was rapid growth in the snack market with the increase in consumption suppressed after the pandemic in Turkey, expressed that they expect strong but single-digit growth this year as well.

Noting that the world’s largest candy and gum factory is in Turkey among their own companies and that they have made a significant export to the US, Karagöz said: “We grew 40 percent in tonnage in 2022 and not there is another country in the world that has grown so much. There was extraordinary growth in the chocolate category. In Turkey, the consumer focused on branded and good quality products. We recently brought in another $50 million investment before the pandemic. This was for production for exports to the US At the moment, we cannot grow gummies in the US,” he said.