Phalaenopsis production center in Yalova, a city located in northwestern Turkey, covers 50 % of the Turkish market’s demand. The production is set in an area of 4 hectares and the owner of the company Turhan Tugtekin points out that their production facility has stopped 15 million euro worth of phalaenopsis imports.
Tugtekin is growing around 2.5 million phalaenopsis annually and as a result Turkish phalaenopsis imports from the Netherlands have dropped from 30 million euros to 15 million euros annually. It takes nearly 3 years for a phalaenopsis to grow. The grower points out that there was no phalaenopsis production in Turkey before they have started with this enterprise. The grower also adds that they have a wide assortment of colors and they are continuing to work on new color variations. The production facility currently employs around 40 people and that number is expected to rise to 60 when the facility reaches its full production capacity.
The grower also notes that the quality of his products is comparable to those of imported from abroad and the prices of his products are almost half of the import products. Finally the grower also remarked that with their cheaper products, now phalaenopsis is now present in every household and it is no longer a plant which is just bought by high-income households.
Source: Hurriyet