The transition of ÇAYKUR to a scheduled tea purchasing system has pleased the producers.

The transition of ÇAYKUR to an appointment-based tea purchasing system starting today has pleased tea producers. The third pruning tea purchasing period, which began on August 15, is ongoing, and tea producers continue their work in the tea gardens. Producers continue to collect the mature teas for harvest and sell them by cutting them. Due to the increasing intensity during the second pruning period, ÇAYKUR had previously reduced the purchases per decare from 50 kilograms to 30 kilograms, then to 25 kilograms, and finally to 20 kilograms. In this pruning period, however, ÇAYKUR is trying to purchase tea from producers more comfortably before a crowd forms. For this reason, ÇAYKUR has reintroduced the appointment system that it abolished years ago starting today. In the first pruning period of 2024, ÇAYKUR purchased 213 thousand tons of tea, while in the second pruning period, it purchased 279 thousand 950 tons of tea. This year, in the first two pruning periods, ÇAYKUR has purchased more tea than in the first two pruning periods of 2022 and 2023. Nuray Kutlu, expressing that they are having a more comfortable experience in the third pruning period, stated, “The new pruning period is going well, but the yield has decreased a bit. The insects have eaten the tea. This situation has been more prevalent in higher altitudes. Due to the very hot weather, our tea has burned. This month, the tea yield is very good. The government has increased our quota. We haven’t felt too pressured. We haven’t needed the private sector. Last month, they bought our tea at a low price. This month is good, thank God.” Ayşe Kutlu, indicating that they are harvesting tea more comfortably, said, “This season has gone well. We are currently collecting our tea in the third pruning period. Normally, the third pruning is a bit less productive, but this month is nice. There were insects, which affected the tea a bit. Also, there was no quota. So we have a bit of comfort there. We are collecting comfortably. The weather has been very hot. We have some rain, but there’s a lot of heat too. It’s going well.”