Geographically Indicated Products Training Program Completed
Producer trainings, which is the first component of the “Commercialization Program of Geographically Indicated Products” carried out in cooperation with Ankara Development Agency and Ankara Chamber of Commerce, has been completed.
The “Commercialization Program of Geographically Indicated Products” carried out within the scope of the protocol signed between our agency and Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), aims to contribute to the creation of income and employment in rural areas, the sustainability of local businesses and the protection of rural-cultural heritage by improving the production, inspection and marketing capacity of Ankara's existing and/or potential geographical indication registered products.
The program consists of two main components. Within the scope of the first component “Geographically Indicated Products Training Program”, producer-oriented capacity building trainings were organized, in which the primary target group is the producers of geographical indication registered products with high commercialization potential. The trainings were held throughout December 2022, for the producers of Beypazarı Kurusu (Beypazarı Dried Cookie), Beypazarı Havuç Lokumu ( Beypazarı Carrot Delight) , Polatlı Soğanı (Polatlı Onion), Ankara Erkeç Pastırması (Ankara Erkeç Pastrami), Ayaş Domatesi (Ayaş Tomato), Ayaş Dutu (Ayaş Mulberry) , Çubuk Turşusu (Çubuk Stick Pickle) and Kalecik Karası Üzümü (Kalecik Karası Grape), which are considered to have rapid commercialization potential among Ankara's GI products. A total of 127 people, consisting of the representatives of institutions that obtained the GI registration of the products, the chambers of agriculture, chambers of commerce, district agriculture directorates, local government units and the producers and sales representatives of the GI registered products, participated in the 5 training programs. In the training program, the producers were informed about the importance of geographical indication, geographical indication and economy, geographical indication and rural development, sustainability in geographically indicated products, food safety and public health, brand communication and geographical indication products and marketing communication. According to the evaluation questionnaires applied to the participants after the training, the majority of the participants stated that they thought that the training would contribute to the development of their production competencies, sales and marketing capabilities, and demanded that the trainings to be repeated.
After the training programs were completed, the Agency and ATO started to work on the "Manufacturer-Retail Chain Markets Matching Event", the second component of the “Commercialization Program of Geographically Indicated Products ". Within the scope of the event, it is aimed to bring together the producers of geographical indication registered products and the representatives of the retail chain markets, to organize B2B meetings and to create new market channels for local producers. Announcements and developments related to the program can be followed on the Agency's website.