World Grain - May 2014 - 64

FEATURE

TFIF

marks 10 year of event
T
th

he Turkish Flour Industrialists' Federation (TFIF) marked
the 10th anniversary of its International Congress and
Exhibition, "Wheat, Flour and Bread: Past, Present and
Future," with its largest ever event.
Nearly 800 delegates from across the world attended the
event March 13-16 at the Titanic Deluxe Belek in Antalya,
Turkey. The event included 45 exhibitors, and attracted ﬂour
industrials, traders and suppliers, mill mechanics and lab workers, bread and other bakery products manufacturers as well as
academics and experts from the private and public sectors.
The congress included scientiﬁc sessions on the past, present and future of wheat; the ﬂour industry; and the role of
bread in nutrition; trade sessions and bilateral discussions;
promotional ﬁlms; and two exhibits, one marketing the 10th
anniversary of the event and the second on Göbekli Tepe,
where it is believed wheat was ﬁrst cultivated and bread made.
EXPORTS AND TRAINING
Erhan Özmen, chairman of the TFIF executive board, said
in his opening speech that he was happy to note increasing exports of ﬂour from Turkey. Ten years ago, the nation was exporting 780,000 tonnes of ﬂour (wheat equivalent). Last year,
Turkey set an all-time record of 2.1 million tonnes, valued
at $950 million, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Özmen noted the important roles of the directors of the
TFIF; the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock; the
Ministry of Economy; the Ministry of Customs and Trade and
exporters unions in the success. He said the objective is to increase exports further and improve the image and brand value
Erhan Özmen, chairman of Turkish Flour Industrialists' Federation (TFIF),
welcomes attendees to the 10th anniversary of the organization's International Congress and Exhibition. Photo courtesy of TFIF.
64

by Susan Reidy

Nearly 800 delegates attend
the congress and exhibition in
Antalya, Turkey

of Turkish ﬂour to achieve the E.U.'s level of prices.
He said TFIF will work with its supporters to conduct studies within the scope of the project, "Restoration of Bread's
Reputation," to counteract smear campaigns targeting ﬂour
and bread.
Amy Reynolds, senior economist with the International
Grains Council (IGC), noted that global wheat production is
at record levels with estimates at just over 700 million tonnes
for 2013-14. World all-wheat trade is likely to reach a record
of 146 million tonnes, led by heavy buying by China.
Flour trade is expected to be up year over year but will not
reach record levels seen in 2011-12, Reynolds said. Milling
wheat demand is up sharply, but imports for feed are down.
Faik Yavuz, the executive accountant board member, the
Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey,
noted the unutilized capacity in the sector and mentioned the
beneﬁts of improved seed quality and enhancing the scope
and quality of licensed warehouses.
In the second session, presenters addressed the issue of training. It was emphasized that training is a process and requires the
cooperation of the government, universities, the private sector
and non-governmental organizations.
The session closed with speeches about the vision for the
May 2014 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - May 2014

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