Assan Gıda celebrated the arrival of the first batch of tomatoes of the season to the Susurluk factory with the farmers. At the ceremony, which was organized to greet the new season, Ali Kibar, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Kibar Holding, thanked the farmers for their hard work. Also mentioning the production optimization investment of 6 million dollars that will be carried out this year by Assan Gıda, which exports to over 30 countries in four continents, Ali Kibar said, “We are planning to increase employment as well as automation with our new investment worth 6 million euros which will include production optimization and general improvement in our factory.”
Assan Gıda, one of the Kibar Group companies, has begun the production season with the arrival of the first batch of tomatoes to the factory. The first batch was welcomed to the Susurluk Factory with a ceremony on July 26, 2016.
The ceremony was attended by Ali Kibar, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Kibar Holding; Tamer Saka, the CEO of Kibar Holding; Ahmet Kibar and Serdar Koçtürk, members of the Executive Board; Haluk Kayabaşı, the COO of Kibar Holding; Hakan Koçoğlu, the CEO of Assan Gıda; and Mustafa Erdoğan, the Factory Director of Assan Gıda, along with the company executives and farmers of the region.
At the ceremony, which is organized each year as a tradition ever since the foundation of Assan Gıda, the farmers were rewarded for perfectly honoring their commitments for the last 3 years.
In his speech, Ali Kibar, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Kibar Holding, stated that they were happy to greet the new season, which is hopefully a fertile one. He also thanked the farmers and the employees for putting in great effort into producing the best tomatoes throughout the year.
Emphasizing the importance of supporting the farmers in the sector, Kibar said, “We take it as our duty to support tomato farmers and agriculture in the regions we operate in. We monitor each step of the production phase and train our farmers. Also, our government stands by the farmers with good agriculture practices especially regarding tomatoes. At Assan Gıda, we support the farmer in every step of the production process, including the seedling, fertilizer, irrigation and pest control processes.”
7% of the demand is supplied by Turkey
Stating that Turkey ranks as the 5th country in the world in terms of industrial tomato production, Kibar said, “California produces 12 million tons, China 6 million, Italy and Spain 4-5 million; whereas Turkey is right behind them with 2.6 million tons. Our share is expected to increase in the upcoming years. Supplying 7% of the global demand, Turkey is one of the strongest players in this market. Therefore, we are developing strategies for upcoming years. We are planning to increase employment as well as automation with our new investment worth 6 million euros which will include production optimization and general improvement in our factory.”
18% Increase in Sales
As the largest exporter of ketchup in Turkey, Assan Gıda exports 50% of its products. Ranking the top 38th factory in the world by the amount of tomatoes processed in 2015, Assan Gıda exports to 56 different customers in over 30 countries. Having increased its sales by 18% from 2014 to 2015, the company plans to develop new products in its research and development center and continue investing in accordance with the demands and expectations of the consumers.
Exporting to 4 Continents
Operating since 1998, Assan Gıda is the largest exporter of ketchup and sauce in Turkey. As the top 38th factory in the world in terms of the amount of tomatoes processed, Assan Gıda presents a wide range of products to many customers in Turkey and Europe in the paste, ketchup, mayonnaise and sauce categories with exclusive brand products and their own brands Kingtom and Colorado. Producing 90 different products just in the ketchup category, Assan Gıda exports to more than 30 countries in 4 continents. Carrying out the production of paste for many countries in the Middle East, Caucasia and Africa and the production of ketchup and sauces for large grocery stores in Europe, the company also sells tomato paste, pepper paste and pepper juice as a raw material to many multinational companies.
International Certificate in Clean Production
One of the two factories of Assan Gıda, which is located in Susurluk, has the facilities with the largest tomato processing capacity in Turkey. Processing 4,000 tons of tomatoes per day, the facilities can produce 1.5 million units each day.
With the principle of clean production, Assan Gıda carries out production in accordance with the standards determined by the BRC Food (A Class) and IFS certificates, which were created by international retailers to encourage compliance with standards regarding food safety. Assan Gıda also has the Sedex and BSCI (Business Social Conflict Initiative) certificates, which determine ethical working conditions.