Rapid growth occurred throughout the 1980s, led by manufacturing but also by agroindustry and a resurgence of both domestic and foreign investment in Turkey. Reform realized in the foreign exchange system left exporters largely free of restrictions in international transactions. Trade policies, which included tax rebates, export credits and credit subsidies, also enhanced export performance of the sector.

Turkish agroindustry brings together producers of varying status and size. They range from small individual units, large and small cooperatives, to multi-national organizations that run their own research and development. Also important are the small to modest-sized specialist and craft business which offer limited but high quality products, often using traditional methods and recipes.

Turkey has an age-old tradition of preserving food, which for a long period was based on salting and drying methods.  Nowadays, the plants situated in the different food-producing areas employ advanced preservation techniques and use the most sophisticated and attractive types of packaging.

The nature of Turkey's fruit and vegetable production means that an extensive range of fruits, such as grapes, figs, olives, apricots, sourcherries, strawberries; and vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, leeks, peppers, onions can be preserved by different methods and presented in a variety of ways. One of infant but rapidly growing agroindustry sectors of Turkey is the frozen fruit and vegetable industry, which has existed for about 25 years.  In this sector, more than 90% of the production is exported. Dehydrated vegetable industry is yet a minor branch of the Turkish agroindustry. One of the most developed branches of the Turkish agroindustry is the fruit juice and concentrates industry. Nevertheless, in general, the biggest share in the exports of processed vegetables and fruits belongs to tomato paste and today all importers worldwide know its quality.

Processing of milk and dairy products on a commercial basis and in modern plants dates back to 35 years ago. Despite its fragmented structure, Turkey is the largest producer of milk and dairy products in the region. The rich varieties of cheese have made Turkey one of the preferred suppliers of cheese. Besides the traditional products, that are mainly Oltu Cheese, Izmir Tulum Cheese, Feta cheese, salinized Diyarbakir Örgü Cheese…etc., products that are demanded internationally, are also produced. Among these products, Mozzarella Cheese (widely used for pizza production), Cheddar and White Cheese have special importance in Turkish foreign trade. However, domestic consumption of dairy product has grown most quickly.

Possessing suitable climatic and ecological conditions, Turkey has an important place among other countries in the world regarding oilseed production. Several vegetable oils such as olive oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, daphne oil and hazelnut oil etc. are produced in Turkey. Olive oil is becoming increasingly present of the food scene as the healthiest alternative among edible oils. Due to her huge production capacity in olive oil, Turkey has become one of the few exporters in the world. Being dependent upon the amount of production, the export varies from year to year.

Recently, sugar confectionary, chocolate and cocoa products industry has become one of the most progressed food sectors in Turkey, because of modernization in the production plants and new investments made in the sector. Types of products are widely diversified. Major items produced in the industry include various types of candies, chewing-gum, Turkish delight, halva, chocolate coated products and various types of chocolates. Production of halva and Turkish delight dates back to the old ages in this country.

Due to high volume of raw material, pastry and milling industry products account for approximately half of the agroindustrial output in terms of value. Major products of this sector are wheat flour, semolina, cracked wheat, bread, macaroni and biscuits.

Nowadays consumers are becoming increasingly interested in environmentally sound products, because of continuously expanding awareness. Thus, the desire for healthy life has oriented consumers towards healthy food and organic agricultural products. The movement towards healthy food, which has started in 1960’s in developed countries, has begun to spread all over the world. Parallel with world developments, organic agricultural activities began in Turkey in 1985 based on demand of importing countries. Due to its rich plant variety, Turkey is one of the countries best suited for organic cultivation. Therefore, around 30 kinds of agricultural products are organically produced in Turkey and shipped abroad pioneering with sultana, apricot and dried figs.