Interview with Elif Özhuy, International Managing Partner of HD

We conducted this pleasant interview with Elif Özhuy, Managing Partner responsible for Business Development and Marketing at HD International, in which we touched upon the company's 20-year success story, product range, and targets for the coming years.

Could you tell our readers about yourself and your professional background?

In 1997, I completed my degree in International Relations at Near East University. For approximately 5 years, I worked as an import and foreign exchange specialist at various companies. Most recently, I served as Import Manager at Güriş Pazarlama A.Ş. I participated in various certificate programs for personal development and professional advancement in foreign trade and foreign exchange expertise, as well as digital marketing. As a mother of three children, I completed a part-time master's degree in Marketing Communications and Brand Management at Bilgi University last year. Out of my interest in history, I studied Ottoman Turkish for about 4 years, and we have a translation group. We have done some translations and may have a book project by year-end. I continue to work as Managing Partner responsible for Business Development and Marketing at HD International, which we established in 1999.

What would you like to say about HD International, which has been making headlines in the sector for 20 years? What are your company's mission and quality policy in this success story?

We established our company in 1999 together with my husband and General Manager Hakan Özhuy. HD International has demonstrated an increasing success trajectory in the sectors it has operated in since its establishment. In addition to providing supply services to the cosmetics and personal care sector, as well as food, chemical, packaging and energy sectors, it also acts as an intermediary for the export of manufacturers operating in Turkey, providing sales, marketing and representation services. In this context, our best example of success is our collaboration with Jokey Plastik. Initially, when Jokey Plastik had no sales in the Middle East, we began marketing and sales efforts as HD. First, we facilitated the establishment of a factory in Egypt and became a partner, then we convinced the company to expand the investment area of the Turkey factory and became partners with them. Currently, as HD, we continue our operations within the Jokey Istanbul factory building. On the occasion of celebrating our 20th year as HD, we have achieved 44-fold growth since our establishment. We work with all manufacturer suppliers we partner with on the basis of exclusive regional agreements. Here, we work both in the direction of realizing the exports of leading and pioneering companies in Turkey's sector and in working with leading and best producers in the world, bringing intermediate goods to Turkey. We have approximately 200 active customers. Currently, we have 26 supplier manufacturer partners. In parallel with the sector's development, this number will continue with innovative, leading companies in their field that are eager to enter the Turkey and Middle East market and can add value.

What are the characteristics you look for in the companies you represent? Could you tell us about the advantages that being selective in this matter provides your company?

We select our supplier companies primarily based on existing needs in the cosmetics and personal care market for raw materials and packaging, or needs arising from new trends. In addition, we work with pioneers in marketing or what we call game-setters among manufacturers. The production conditions of our suppliers, and consequently the presence of quality and management certificates, are also among our criteria. Since our customers are predominantly export-oriented companies, we understand the importance of maintaining certain production standards during export in terms of quality continuity. We make an effort to work with a single supplier on an exclusive basis in each product segment. Because it is a very important mission for us to be sustainable in terms of raw material quality and price competition.

Could you tell us about your product range? Which sectors do you serve?

We primarily provide raw materials and packaging services to the cosmetics and personal care sectors, as well as home care chemicals. Additionally, we have a rather extensive product range including raw materials for industrial plastics manufacturing and frozen fruit concentrates and additives for the food sector. In cosmetics and personal care raw materials, we have approximately 2,500 product varieties. To list by segment: Actives, Cold Process Waxes, Botanical Extracts, Emollients & Esters, Emulsifiers, Linear Polyethylenes, Preservatives, Eco-Preservatives, Silicones, Synthetic Waxes, Vitamins and Proteins, Castor Oil and Derivatives, Chemical Sunscreens, Botanical Oils, Colored Cosmetics Raw Materials, Pearls, Thickeners and Home Care Chemicals, as well as our frozen fruit concentrates and food additives.

What are your domestic and foreign sales volumes? What criteria do you consider when determining your sales volume?

As HD, we conduct sales and marketing in Turkey, and we also export to Middle East, Gulf, and African countries. In this context, we established our HD International Dubai company in 2011. We have an average annual turnover of USD 11 million. Approximately half of this turnover consists of cosmetics chemical raw materials and packaging, while the other half comprises food packaging and additives. Our sales team consists of expert chemists and colleagues who are highly equipped and experienced in the sales field.

What is the importance of technology for HD International? What technological features are your products equipped with?

Since our supplier companies are leaders or game-setters in their fields, the technological features of our products in terms of innovation increase every year. In chemical raw materials, particularly in the colored cosmetics and personal care raw materials we offer to our customers, by using biotechnology and fermentation methods together, we increase the expected effect to the highest level in all products, support stability, and increase effectiveness and durability. Our supplier Labio was selected as the best K-Beauty Fermented Oil producer of 2018. At the same time, we prove the effectiveness and durability of products through comparative tests and clinical studies provided by our suppliers. Similar processes are used in personal care, but we work with companies like Easthill and ABC Nanotech, which were the first to introduce this in colored cosmetics. In our packaging products, CLC products have high technological capabilities in this regard. We particularly see this in the process of bringing together injection, metal and glass parts as pumps (assembling). This is an assembly line with high investment costs. After products come out of injection molds, feed lines are filled and products are assembled without being touched until they come out of the line. This ensures the creation of products with low error rates and high durability (no displacement or breakage). In our Matrametal Monoblock aluminum aerosol cans, while there is a standard 6-color printing technology worldwide, we can print up to 9 colors.

Can you provide information about the latest product you have recently introduced to the sector? What are the advantages this product provides to your customers?

We recently introduced 3 important products to our customers. These are alpha arbutin in the whitening category, hyaluronic acid in the moisturizing and anti-aging group, and argan oil in the oils group. These three products provide competitive price advantages because they come from among the world's leading suppliers. Ecocert, halal and organic certifications can be obtained. For hyaluronic acid, we offer options applicable to every finished product. Argan oil is our Morocco-origin product of the best quality in terms of purity and odor on the market.

What are the sustainability initiatives you have undertaken?

We approach this concept in our company in terms of information flow and product quality. For this, we emphasize using and developing technology in our company's infrastructure. Because information must be measurable in every respect, and you need technology to create this. We use the LOGO CRM database application in our company. Through this, we monitor samples, R&D quality, sales and inventory figures on a product basis in a healthy manner. We prioritize setting and developing quality standards together with our supplier companies. Through this, we conduct sustainable work in products and services. We began working with SGS this year for the renewal of our company's ISO 9001 quality management certificate.

Could you tell us about your corporate social responsibility projects?

I think corporate responsibility, as a concept, is actually about how involved and engaged you are in improving your surroundings or addressing problems. The more everyone contributes to development or solving problems in their immediate environment, the more livable the world will become. We implement various corporate social responsibility projects every year. Such as equipping certain school sports teams, and because this is our 20th year, we have activated Gebkim Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Dilovası, which was taken over by the Gebkim Foundation, of which we were founders in Gebkim Organized Industrial Zone, under the protocol with the Ministry of National Education. As HD, we equipped a chemistry laboratory at this school with our donations. We also provided material supplies to the computer and music clubs at the Dilovası Polisan Sports and Culture Center. We even had the pleasure of listening to a small concert from this music club at the invitation of our Dilovası District Governor Mustafa Alkan. We attach great importance to continuing such projects, particularly prioritizing the education of children and women.

Can you provide information about innovations you would like to realize in the coming years?

Our analysis continues on the production in Turkey of value-added products we sell in Turkey and the Middle East. Additionally, we will have storage and distribution activities in foreign markets. Furthermore, we aim to increase our momentum in the food sector within 2 years. Especially for our mid and large-scale exporter customers, we will continue to significantly increase the range of products we supply in stock and provide financial support, adding value to our customers' production.