Turkey is an attractive market for potential investors: it was ranked 5th in a rating analysis by Business Monitor International (BMI) regarding the Food and Drink industry, Q3 2010 CEE Business Environment Ratings thanks to its large size of population (nearly 73 million), lack of market maturity or saturation, its favorable long-term economic structure and GDP per capita. Additionally, as a major agricultural producer with an increasingly positive food and beverage trade balance, Turkey offers easy access to raw materials. The food and beverage sector, which is largely dependent on the agricultural sector in Turkey, has an important share in the country’s production i.e. a share ranging between 18-20 percent.
Production in the Turkish food and beverage sector registered an increase of c.4.1 percent from 2007 to 2008; however it then declined by c.1.3 percent from 2008 to 2009. This contraction was less severe than in various other sectors which were temporarily hit harder by the global economic downturn.
The Turkish food sector is becoming more advanced as retailers require higher standards from food manufacturers and investments accompanied by improvements in the sector take place. Through the widespread presence of modern Mass Grocery Retail outlets and rising disposable incomes, the consumption patterns of Turkish consumers have shifted to packaged and processed foods, such as ready-to-eat meals and frozen foods. Additionally, increases in the number of females in full-time employment have supported the trend towards packaged, frozen and ready food. Food consumption, as a percentage of GDP, is expected to fall from an estimated 8.4 percent in 2009 to 7.2 percent in 2014, reflecting the country's growing wealth. Consumption of beverages in value is expected to grow by 16.4 percent in CAGR terms from 2009 to 2014, mainly due to the expansion of soft drink sales.
Turkey's food, beverage and tobacco trade balance is expected to grow positively over the forecast period, due to the sheer size of the country's agriculture sector. As consumers demand a wider variety of food and beverage products, the annual trade balance is expected to increase from USD 4.4 billion in 2005 to USD 6.2 billion by 2014.5 Meanwhile, exports are projected to register a 46 percent growth in this period, while total volume is expected to reach USD 9.1 billion.
