DistantNews
Support us
Turkish entrepreneur offers 'eat as much as you want, pay for what you take' berry harvest
🇹🇷 Turkey /Culture & Society

Turkish entrepreneur offers 'eat as much as you want, pay for what you take' berry harvest

From Cumhuriyet · () Turkish

Translated from Turkish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Yunus Emre Kalaycı, a 27-year-old from Bolu, Turkey, transformed his father's 6-decare land into a high-value berry farm.
  • He established a unique 'eat as much as you want, pay for what you take' concept for raspberry harvesting, attracting visitors from across Turkey.
  • Kalaycı has expanded his operation to 45 decares within three years, producing raspberries, blueberries, currants, and aronia, and exporting to major cities.

In Bolu, Turkey, 27-year-old Yunus Emre Kalaycı has turned a portion of his family's land into a thriving berry farm, offering a unique harvest experience. Kalaycı, who initially pursued a career in public administration, decided to venture into agriculture, transforming six decares of his father's 15-decare property into a high-value forest fruit garden.

I wanted to be a district governor, but I couldn't. Now I am the manager and governor of my own garden.

— Yunus Emre KalaycıReflecting on his career change from aspiring public administrator to farm owner.

He established a popular 'eat as much as you want, pay for what you take' concept for raspberry picking. Visitors can enter the fields, pick their own berries, taste them freely, and then pay only for the quantity they wish to take home. This innovative approach has gained significant traction, drawing visitors from major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Bursa, and even from as far as Şanlıurfa.

Kalaycı's venture, named Bonus Meyve Bahçeleri, began with raspberries and has since expanded to include strawberries, blueberries, currants, and aronia. Within three years, he has grown his production area to 45 decares. The farm operates daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., offering an organic, certified experience that allows people to connect with nature and enjoy fresh, locally grown fruit.

Our people can come to this place every day between 10:00 and 20:00 and pick raspberries as they wish and have a pleasant time. When customers come, we give them a basket. They pick the products they want from wherever they want in the garden. They can also taste the products while picking. In the end, we sell the products they collected according to their weight.

— Yunus Emre KalaycıExplaining the 'pick-your-own' concept and operational details of his berry farm.

"I wanted to be a district governor, but I couldn't. Now I am the manager and governor of my own garden," Kalaycı remarked. He emphasized his goal of connecting people with the land and highlighted that his farm is the first publicly accessible, organic-certified raspberry farm in Bolu. The business also engages in contract farming, significantly boosting its production capacity.

Our goal is to bring people together with nature and the soil.

— Yunus Emre KalaycıStating the underlying mission of his agritourism project.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cumhuriyet in Turkish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog