Yener BLACK SEA
Local chain markets, the most important link of organized retail, came together in 2022 at the Local Chains Meet (YZB) held at the Haliç Congress Center. Organized by the Turkish Retailers Federation (TPF), the biggest fair of the sector, the event brought together thousands of stakeholders with the theme of “Re-to-Local” this year.
Speaking at the opening of the event, TPF President Ömer Duzgun explained the developments in organized retail in recent years. Indicating that the epidemic period is a historical process and changed many things in the industry, Denge said, “We do not have the luxury of increasing prices, this is clear and clear. In this economic environment, a producer or seller who sells products at an exorbitant, unfair price higher than his competitors, is punished by the consumers and the market above all else. This is how it should be known.” In addition to inflation and food prices Agriculture Pointing out that there are also problems in animal husbandry and animal husbandry, he said, “We want to be a self-sufficient country even more now. These developments worried the citizens. It wants to access safe and domestic production more than ever before. So it’s time to say Back to Local. Without wasting any more time, a step should be taken today for our future. From farm to fork, all food security must be reconstructed. We must rewrite all processes from global warming to drought.”
There is store inflation in Turkey
TPF President Duzgun said, “42 thousand national and discount markets serve the citizens. While the number of discount stores has increased by 395 percent in the last 10 years, their share in the sector has increased to 79 percent. Duzgun continued: “It is expected to open more than 13 thousand new stores in the next 5 years. In this table, it is predicted that the share of discount markets in food retail will reach 85%. This picture means that new market openings will continue side by side in the coming period. This situation will harm not only the food retail businesses, but also the producer, the consumer and the country. Local chains will continue to lose their competitiveness if the missing legs in our retail law are not addressed.”
“We are rowing in the vortex of competition”
Saying that they provide service with more than 5,500 stores as TPF, and expressing that they have turned what they earn in Turkey into investments in Turkey, Denge said, “We know that if we do not look at what is happening in the world and in our country from the point of development, we cannot carry our heritage to the future. Competition is a feature that increases development. The competitive environment we are in is also pushing the industry into a difficult situation. Energy, logisticsIncreasing costs, especially fuel, equipment, rent and labor, are starting to push domestic businesses and manufacturers more and more every day. On the other hand, Ömer Duzgun explains that the view to the future has undergone a rapid evolution and said, “We have also experienced negativities in this historical process. Production of most foodstuffs fell. While we were struggling with the competition, we faced our customers due to the price increase that was not caused by us. We are the last link in the chain. This undermines our customer’s trust in us. We are rowing in a competition vortex where costs are increasing day by day and profits are decreasing.”
Regulation signal to maturity in fruit and vegetables
Deputy Minister of Trade Sezai Uçarmak reminded that there has always been famine in history after epidemics. Stating that there was no famine during this period, but the prices increased at a high rate, Uçarmak said, “It is not nice that the markets come to the fore only with price increases. They are just a channel. In the past, we have witnessed the intermingling of artisan businesses and local chains. We are now witnessing the tension between local grocery stores and organized retail. Concentration in a certain area gives strength to companies. However, the domestic trade area should be in a very liberal understanding. However, when there is a problem, businesses want to see the state by their side. As a ministry, we make regulations for competition. There are also new regulations in this area on our agenda,” he said.
Also commenting on the recent increase in fruit and vegetable prices, Uçarmak said, “There is no fruit and vegetable trade with a 6-month maturity. The EU has put food in a different place, especially due to the pandemic. “The payment period is 1 month for products that are durable for less than a month, and 2 months for others,” he said. We think we should implement this. We are working there,” he said. On the other hand, Uçarmak noted that there is also a problem arising from production and said, “There is a need for regulation regarding these as well. Daily life in this area should be followed and applicable provisions should be introduced.
“Solution in food supply is provided by local supply”
At the Local Chains Meeting event, the pressure of inflation on the consumer in the retail sector was addressed in the “Who is to blame for the food inflation?” moderated by Hakan Güldağ, the Top Manager of DÜNYA newspaper. discussed at the session. Among the speakers of the session, WORLD Editorial Board Chairman Şeref Oğuz, WORLD agriculture writer Ali Ekber Yıldırım, Piri Reis University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Erhan Aslanoğlu, Chairman of the Whole Dairy, Meat and Breeding Cattle Breeders Association (TÜSEDAD) Sencer Solakoğlu, Onur Market Chairman of the Board Cemal Özen. While it was stated in the panel that the exchange rate stood out as an important factor in inflation, it was stated that another important factor was issues such as incomplete agricultural policies and lack of coordination. While it was emphasized that food nationalism started with the epidemic and everyone turned to production enough for themselves, it was emphasized that the solution passed through the right agricultural policies such as close and local supply and coordination.
PİRİ REİS UNIVERSITY VICE RECTOR PROF. DR. ERHAN ASLANOGLU:
Our food index goes to 1400
The growth rate is declining. EU growth declined from 5’s to 2.5’s. It will probably go even lower. There is also a gas crisis in the EU now. The EU is our biggest market. This will affect us as well. On the other hand, inflation is in a sharp uptrend. Inflation, which had been on a downward trend since the 1980s, started to rise. Central banks are taking firm steps. The world accelerated the priority with inflation. Interest rates are rising. FAO’s food index is 200 percent, ours goes to 1400. There is 300 percent inflation in food. We see that the difference has increased a lot after 2009 and then increased a lot. We have a leap. After Zimbabwe, the highest inflation is in Turkey. When we look at the causes of inflation, the exchange rate comes first. A very tight monetary policy is needed as a solution. There is a need for a comprehensive disinflation program, planning for all sectors, subsidies on imported inputs, and structural reforms. Cooperatives should be stronger, competition in the distribution system should increase, licensed storage should be developed.
WORLD AGRICULTURAL AUTHOR ALI EKBER YILDIRIM:
The price does not decrease by enacting the law.
Food prices come to the fore at the beginning of the month with inflation data. We discuss the source of this over the labels. However, the business has a field dimension. Searching for a criminal. The EU is experiencing the biggest drought, production has decreased and there is an effort to support the producer. There is a problem, but a solution is also offered. The last time we had a tomato crisis, the EU wanted to buy tomatoes at high prices. We tied the export record so that it would not go to the EU. Instead of evaluating this potential, we look at it daily. There is no single reason for the increase in food prices. There are policies, lack of planning, costs. Taxes are lowered and imports are made, as a result, production is abandoned. This causes a vicious cycle. They said that if the law of the state changes, the price will decrease. The price does not decrease by enacting the law. The state law is on the agenda again. The food committee was established. They say, ‘We follow the prices, we watch’. But the result does not change. We must manage the process from farm to fork well. Costs have soared. The possible immediate environment should be well evaluated. This can be seen as a model. In every respect, it is important to produce locally and to provide products locally.
CEMAL ÖZEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ONUR MARKET:
Agriculture should be supra-political and state policy
As a society, we should move to solution-oriented actions instead of looking for criminals. We need to find a solution to this country’s agriculture, food and inflation. There is a double-digit inflation period starting with 2017. In 2018, we faced Iran embargo, currency crisis. Then, with the pandemic, the deterioration of the supply chain and the war, the main problem of the countries began to be food. There is talk of food nationalism. Everyone is shifting to producing self-sufficient food. No country can develop in an environment without food. We have never been lost in food, including the epidemic. Agriculture and food are much more important for the future than the defense industry. There is the problem of efficiency, profitability and earnings. The base price and supports should be announced during the production phase. The producer needs to know the money that will go into his pocket or not. The farmer cannot take risks, he gives up production. There is a need for balance and coordination regarding supply and demand. Agriculture should be above politics and state policy.
MEAT AND BREEDING CATTLE BREEDERS’ ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT SENCER SOLAKOĞLU:
The solution is produced with the people in the field, not at the table
The biggest expense of agriculture is rent. It now comes to 35 to 55 percent of the cost of the product. Real estate prices increased the most during the pandemic. As a result, rents have also increased. This was reflected in the field as well. It is said that milk prices should not increase. Because it is a raw material, it will increase the price of other products. You should not be expected to be the solution to an event that you did not cause. There is a downward trend in milk production. Registered milk is 10 million tons, unregistered is 23 million tons. Prices are rising. Each of these is the result, not the cause. You cannot say to the farmer ‘lower the price’ while the costs are increasing. The same mistakes are made. Trying to find solutions with the people at the table, not the people in the field. If plans are not made in the hands of competent people, if the plans are prepared by people who have ideas without their knowledge, it will not be correct. This is the job of science.
CHAIRMAN OF THE WORLD EDITORIAL BOARD ŞEREF OĞUZ:
You can’t fill your stomach with the food of your hand
Input prices alone are not a sufficient explanation. There is more indifference than knowledge. There is a problem, you know the solution, the steps to be taken are obvious, but you do not do it. At the solution point, it is done “as if”. You cannot rule the country with the knowledge of the hand, and you cannot fill your stomach with the food of the hand. In a village of Yozgat, they bought and combined around 800 fields, and the number of tractors decreased to 14 from around 410. Now they produce 25 thousand kg of fruit and 35-40 people are insured. There are people who can do this. Regions that should be attracted. Thus, young people can also engage in this business. Knowledge should be planted in the field as well as the seed. There is talk of land integration. Production is difficult in the field that has reached the size of the football field. Steps should be taken in the organizing note to reduce inputs. We need food. We will be hungry in the information society and our grandchildren will have more appetite. There should be an effort to popularize agriculture. Kids think meat grows on market shelves. It’s easy for the government to blame chain stores. War is not given over the label. It is necessary to increase production.