Narrow Focus Grew It; the Same Narrowness Is the Risk
Turkey’s Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters’ Association raised exports 13.5 per cent over the past year to 2.001 billion dollars; against the 50 million dollars recorded in 2001, that is roughly fortyfold growth in 25 years. Headlines carried that figure. The breakdown shows a different picture.
Eighty per cent of total exports come from a single sector — fisheries. Within it, sea bass accounts for 682 million dollars, sea bream 524 million and Turkish salmon 253 million. Roughly three quarters of a two-billion-dollar export figure therefore rests on three species.
That explains both the success and the exposure at once: narrow focus produced the growth, and the same narrowness now produces fragility. Any business exporting a niche product should read the lesson here.
What Happened
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- A 238 million dollar increase in one year
- Concentration is very high
- Three products decide the outcome
- Markets widened, rankings shifted
Four figures build the picture.
A 238 million dollar increase in one year
Exports rose from 1.763 billion dollars to 2.001 billion between mid-August 2025 and mid-August 2026, making the association the first food exporters’ body under its umbrella organisation to cross the two-billion threshold.
Concentration is very high
Fisheries alone accounted for 1.596 billion dollars — 80 per cent of the total. Eggs reached 169.5 million, poultry 137.5 million, dairy 39.5 million and honey 15.5 million.
Three products decide the outcome
Sea bass at 682 million, sea bream at 524 million and Turkish salmon at 253 million. Those three items alone make up the bulk of the total.
Markets widened, rankings shifted
The number of destination countries rose from 118 to 122. Italy took first place with 255 million dollars, while last year’s leader Russia fell to second with 241 million and Greece placed third with 236 million.
What the Numbers Mean
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- Focus produces growth
- The same focus produces fragility
- Market spread offsets partly
- The ranking change is separate information
The same data supports two opposite conclusions.
Focus produces growth
Fortyfold growth over 25 years came from deepening in specific products rather than spreading across a wide range. A single association accounting for roughly half of the country’s exports in this field follows from that. Niche does not mean staying small.
The same focus produces fragility
With most revenue coming from three products, a disease outbreak, quota or price movement in any one of them affects the whole picture directly. Concentration accelerates and gathers risk simultaneously.
Market spread offsets partly
Selling into 122 countries, with the top three holding a limited share of the total, balances the product-side concentration to some degree.
The ranking change is separate information
Russia slipping from first to second while Italy advanced signals weight moving toward European markets — which also means rising standard and documentation requirements.
Who This Affects, and How
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- Those who gain
- Those who lose
- Those largely unaffected
- The indirect chain
Exposure follows product and market distribution.
Those who gain
Producers who have deepened in a specific product. The table shows that specialising in a narrow field can deliver scale. Feed, packaging, cold chain and logistics providers in the same chain also take a share of the growth.
Those who lose
Producers tied to one product and one market. A disease in one product, a quota in one market or the loss of a single buyer comes straight off revenue. Those narrow on both product range and market spread are the most exposed.
Those largely unaffected
Food businesses serving the domestic market feel no direct effect. Indirect impact can arise through domestic supply and pricing of products diverted to export.
The indirect chain
Demand rises in one product, production shifts toward it, capacity in other products declines, and returning becomes difficult when demand falls. Concentration grows you quickly and slows your retreat.
What to Do About It
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- Calculate your concentration ratio
- Widen the base without losing the focus
- Add markets before adding products
- Track market shifts
All four can be done this month with existing sales data.
Calculate your concentration ratio
What share of revenue comes from your top three products, and what share from your top three customers? Where both are high, growth and risk originate in the same place.
Widen the base without losing the focus
Rather than changing products, offering the same product in different forms — processed, portioned, differently packaged — preserves focus while spreading risk.
Add markets before adding products
This table shows high product concentration alongside 122 destination countries. Developing a new product costs more than finding a new market; on risk spreading, the market side delivers faster.
Track market shifts
A market slipping in the rankings may not be incidental. Watching where weight is moving allows the required documentation and standards preparation to start early.
The Digital Side
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- Buyers search in their own language
- Competition is sparse in niches
- Documentation should be prominent
- Concentration is measurable digitally too
Exporting a niche product is fundamentally about being reachable by the buyer.
Buyers search in their own language
An Italian buyer looking for sea bass does not search in Turkish. A product not defined by its commercial name in the target market is absent from that entire market.
Competition is sparse in niches
A narrow product definition carries low search volume and low competition alike. That makes it the most accessible area for a smaller producer to gain visibility.
Documentation should be prominent
As sales into European markets rise, certification, traceability and cold chain information become the buyer’s first question. A buyer who finds it on the page arrives ready to negotiate — the preparation that makes the most difference in export and e-commerce consulting.
Concentration is measurable digitally too
Which product and which country visits and enquiries come from is measurable. That breakdown becomes an early indicator of product concentration.
A Solid Digital Foundation
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- Product names need the target market’s term
- Translation is not enough
- Units and measures should be local
- Built once, works in every market
The most common export mistake is defining a product by the name you use for it.
Product names need the target market’s term
The same product carries different commercial names in different markets, and buyers search their own term. Product names and descriptions need defining correctly in the target language; how product information should be structured is explained in the Google Search Central documentation. A product defined by the wrong name stays invisible to the right buyer.
Translation is not enough
A dictionary equivalent and the trade term used in the sector can differ. The easiest way to find the correct term is looking at competitor listings in the target market.
Units and measures should be local
Giving weight, size and packaging information in the buyer’s units shortens the correspondence at quotation stage.
Built once, works in every market
Once product naming and information structure are correct, adding a market becomes a matter of adding a language. We cover the setup in our approach to digital consulting.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No, it is also the source of growth. Risk arises when concentration goes unmeasured and no offsetting market spread is built.
Usually markets first. Developing a new product takes investment and time, while opening an existing product to a new market delivers faster.
It can. The growth in this table came from deepening in a narrow field; scale followed over time.
Certification, traceability and cold chain records come to the fore. That preparation should begin before demand arrives.
By calculating the revenue share of your top three products and top three customers. Where both are high, balancing is needed.
The trend is strong, but while product concentration persists a single adverse development can affect the whole picture. Sustainability depends on the balancing work.
Source: Data from the Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters’ Association and statements by its chairman; Dünya Gazetesi and Anadolu Agency reporting, 16–17 August 2026.