With the agreement signed between the Eastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (DAP) of the Ministry of Development of the Republic of Turkey and TÜBİTAK TÜSSİDE, the evaluation/closing meeting of the "Project for Determining Commercialization Strategies of EAP Region Local Products" was held in Erzurum on January 18, 2017, under the consultancy of TÜSSİDE.
At the closing seminar, which was held with the participation of stakeholders of the sector, including private sector representatives, universities, unions and relevant public institutions, the activities carried out within the scope of the project, the results obtained and the strategies created were explained to the participants.
The project was implemented with the aim of creating significant income and employment for the region and supporting sustainable development by commercializing local products with high added value. Within the scope of the project, in-depth interviews were held with stakeholders in 14 provinces in the region for data collection purposes, and surveys were administered to consumers outside the region in order to measure consumer trends towards local products of the Eastern Anatolia Region. A "Local Product Inventory" was created for the region using the results of in-depth interviews and the information, documents and reports collected from the region during the interviews.
Using the interviews and survey data, commercialization values were calculated for the products in the local product inventory. Based on the commercialization values of the products, "Red Meat" and "Honey" products were selected among the products in the local product inventory.
Product-based literature research, market and competition analysis studies, in-depth interviews, surveys and workshops were carried out regarding the "Red Meat and Honey" products selected based on their commercialization values, and the current situation regarding the products was determined. Taste tests and laboratory analyzes were carried out for the products selected within the scope of the project, and results regarding the taste/taste and technical properties of the products were revealed.
Based on the results of the current situation analysis, commercialization strategies for the products have been developed and an exemplary application model has been proposed to implement these strategies.
The results shared with the DAP Regional Development Administration will constitute an important input in making national and regional plans regarding the local products of the Eastern Anatolia Region in the coming period.
