25-year-old agricultural engineer Mustafa Kutay Ası, who harvests the earliest apricots in Turkey, sells his apricots for 3,500 TL per kilogram. Starting the apricot harvest in early February, the 25-year-old agricultural engineer Mustafa Kutay Ası continues his sales with the earliest apricot harvest.

While sheikhs from the United Arab Emirates order kilograms of green apricots, the young producer sends apricots to all corners of the world via the internet.

Producing apricots in a greenhouse covering approximately 800 square meters, the young entrepreneur contributes to the promotion of İznik by sending apricots in ceramic bowls.

Continuing the harvest, Mustafa Kutay Ası stated, “There is a tremendous interest. Arab sheikhs in the United Arab Emirates want a lot of apricots. The price of our apricots is 3,500 TL per kilogram. We take care of our trees like babies for 12 months.”

Ası said, “We adjusted the soil and greenhouse temperature in our smart greenhouse using a heating system and made early harvest possible. However, achieving this was quite costly for us. The cost of the coal we used for heating reached 200,000 liras this year due to the harsh winter in our country.”

Özdemir Yiğit, who came from Marmaris to İznik to buy early harvest papaya apricots, said, “I heard about apricot production on social media and immediately came here. The taste of the apricots is wonderful,” he said.