Aegean Exporter’s Unions declared the exportation statistics of the year 2018.

The biggest producer of Mediterranean Sea Bream and bass in the world and the leading aquaculture company in our country and Europe, Kılıç Seafood became the first exporter in 2018.

Being in the leading place in Turkey from the point of tax and exportation, Kılıç has been operating in Turkish Aquaculture Sector from the beginning of establishment with the professional experience for more than 20 years and has been performing a sustainable production with complete integration.

Having reached an export volume of USD 175 million in 2018, Kılıç Seafood co. was awarded as the unrivalled leader of aquaculture industry.

We, Kılıç Seafood, succeeded in achieving our turnover target for 2018, TRY 1,365,000,000.00, by increasing the number of countries of export to 63 thanks to vigorous efforts of our 2000 employees notwithstanding the challenging market conditions in the last quarter of 2018. We owe this success to our organization as a fully integrated aquaculture company from fry production to feed plants in Turkey. Our active presence in all phases of production and chain value provides us with considerable control on the process.

Although the significant increase in the F/X rates and minimum wage in the second half of 2018 posed a risk for the entire industry in terms of production and raw material procurement, we could continue our growth when compared to the previous year thanks to our export operations as well as accurate forecasts. No success is easy. Yet, we achieved sustainable success as a result of our hard work.

The fact that aquaculture offers an important potential for meeting nutrition and especially high quality protein needs of human beings makes aquaculture the rising star which is highly promising in terms of providing alternative nutrition sources. As a country surrounded by seas on three sides and exposed to Mediterranean climate, Turkey has quite a few areas convenient for aquaculture operations. In that respect, Kılıç Seafood boasts of a capacity for producing 65,000 tons of high quality fish in line with the EU standards in terms of health and taste to be exported to 63 countries throughout the world.

We participate in global industrial expositions in order to expand our network thanks to our sales and logistics staff acting all over the world. It is our priority to participate in Seafood Expo North America and Seafood Expo Global, the largest aquaculture expositions in the world. We introduce our species of Trout, Salmon Trout, Meagre, Bluefin Tuna and Halibut as well as Seabream and Seabass to the world in those two expositions which host large number of participants from prominent seafood producers, exporters and actors of aquaculture industry.

Our country is sure to derive huge benefits from activities conducted for boosting the contributions of the aquaculture industry to national economy as well as meeting the requirements of the industry in general. Turkey has a natural advantage for aquaculture production as a country with a very long coastline and remarkable inland waters. It is possible to cultivate a large number of species according to the preferences of particular countries. The industry is also quite critical for well-balanced and healthy nutrition of the world population. While seafood cultivation is an important source of income for our country, the aquaculture industry is recognized as offering healthy alternatives for protein in the entire world.

The industry which continues to grow quite rapidly in our country has a strategic importance thanks to its added value and contribution to employment rates. In that respect, the government makes efforts to introduce new incentives regarding investment and R&D activities. As a matter of fact, Turkey has the potential to expand its share in the global market if it focuses on producing various species in addition to the rich varieties available in the country. We have great advantages in that regard. The industrial associations and governmental incentives will also play a great role in reinforcing our position in the global arena.

We believe in the power of R&D activities for ensuring sustainable growth. We make right decisions to make right investments at the right time. Actually, we have already begun to reap the fruits of our projects which we initiated in the previous years. We are currently engaged in undertaking an important project in Mersin where we have commissioned a seabream and seabass production and packaging facility with the capacity of 20,000 tons. Our seabream and seabass production facility in the Dominican Republic made the first seabream delivery in 2018 after being commissioned for expediting delivery processes to the US market. We conducted the first seabass harvest in that facility recently. We aim to increase the production volume of that facility this year in order to increase our export volume by delivering our fresh fish in the fastest manner to Northern and Southern America. In addition, we began to produce Japanese Halibut (Hirame) as a result of our R&D activities. We currently market this fish in the US market. And we were awarded for the taste of our fish. Thanks to its dedication to taste and quality, Kılıç Deniz received the prestigious Taste and Quality prize awarded by International Taste & Quality Institute -iTQi. This prize was awarded by the exclusive partnership of prestigious culinary associations, The Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and other remarkable food and beverage associations. The judges comprised of world-renowned chefs and sommeliers taste the products on a strictly blind basis according to which they rate the products based on 3 stars. Kılıç Deniz was awarded with 3 stars for seabass and 2 stars for seabream in the Taste and Quality assessment. The awards are recognized as “remarkable” and “extraordinary”. We deliver our fish as fast and healthy as possible by means of our network comprised of production facilities, sales offices and distribution channels and we receive positive feedback from all stakeholders. This is a real source of pride for our company.

We continue to return on investments in 2019. We have the broadest experience in Mediterranean fish species and we intend to penetrate into new markets with different sorts of fish. Our company is currently the largest seabream and seabass producer with its 65,000 tons of production capacity. We owe our success largely to our high quality production processes comprised of accurate and scientific methods in addition to the use of our high quality fish feed. Now that we are recognized as the largest fish cultivator and exporter of live fish for the first time in the world, we achieved this success by remaining dedicated to quality and scientific methods. As a company which has raised its level of achievement since its establishment, Kılıç Deniz will continue to contribute to our country with its production and sales network in Turkey and abroad in line with the principles of quality and ethics with due awareness for its current position.