The 30rd Istanbul Geographical Indications Summit, hosted by Metro Turkey, which has been working continuously for more than 3 years with the aim of preserving the Turkish culinary culture and transferring it to future generations, and in cooperation with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and TOBB, is the main event of 'From Local to Global: Around the World'. organized by the theme.
Stating that they created a model that benefits the country's economy by supporting small producers, cooperatives and women's employment within the scope of Metro Turkey, Geographically Indicated Products project, Sinem Türung said, “We take a role in all processes from the registration of Geographically Indicated products to their export and inclusion in restaurant menus. We are creating a model that benefits the product, its manufacturer and the national economy.
We implement all processes, from registration in the EU to export of products with Geographical Indication registration in Turkey. We cooperate with all national and international organizations that can be stakeholders in the field of Geographical Indications in the country and abroad. For example, we give a purchase guarantee to the producers for Kapıdağ Purple Onion, which is produced in only three places in the world and registered with Geographical Indication. As Metro Turkey, we buy 30% of the product grown in this region. We are working with Fertile Hands Women's Cooperative for this product. We see cooperatives as the main lever for rural development and local products and cooperate with around 40 entrepreneurs and women's cooperatives. Until today, we have brought together with our consumers around 200 food and non-food Geographical Indication registered and candidate products, depending on the season, from Finike orange to Zile molasses, from Taşköprü garlic to Bursa knife.
On behalf of our country, we became the first retailer to include Malatya apricot, Bayramiç white, Aydın fig, Aydın chestnut, Taşköprü garlic and Milas olive oil in its aisles with its own brand and EU logos. We are aware of the importance of exports in the strengthening of our country's economy. In the last two years, we have exported 20 thousand tons of Geographical Indications and local products to countries where we operate, such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Belgium, Hungary, England, Czech Republic, Croatia. In this context, I would like to say that we have exported more than 10 million Euros of geographical indication products to 10 Metro countries so far”.
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