We Had a Pleasant Interview with Necmi Erol

Muratbey, one of Turkey's major food companies, has its Chairman of the Board Necmi Erol sharing valuable information with our readers about the company's success story to date and its operations.  

Could you tell our readers about yourself and your background?

I was born in Istanbul in 1954. Due to my father's profession, I have been in the dairy and dairy products sector since I was 7 years old. We had a small cheese shop in Eminönü. In 1977, I graduated from Istanbul Technical University's Electrical-Electronics Engineering Department and worked in that field for a short period. Later, I decided to pursue the business I had been involved with since childhood, and in 1980, my brother Recai Erol and I took over the delicatessen shop our father operated in Eminönü. In 1992, we started cheese production as Muratbey Gıda. In 2004, we opened our state-of-the-art factory in Uşak Organized Industrial Zone. Our production facility, which has 35,000 square meters of enclosed space, has a daily milk processing capacity of 700 tons. With over 300 product varieties, we aim to ensure that more people consume healthy products made from healthy milk. With approximately 400 employees, we deliver the world's most delicious cheeses to over 50,000 points across Turkey and five continents worldwide. We expanded internationally in 2008 and obtained brand registration in nearly 60 countries in 2014. We carry out production that respects the environment, working towards energy conservation and achieving zero chemical waste in production. We continue our leading and exemplary role in the sector not only with our innovative products but also with technological projects we have developed. We are the market leader in the Turkish specialty cheeses category.  

What would you like to say about your company? What are the criteria that form your success policy?

Muratbey, a domestic brand, contributes to the country's economy through its production and export activities. We are making rapid progress towards becoming a world brand with confident steps. Following the lifting of the export ban, we were among the first brands to receive export permission to European Union countries, and since 2018, we have been exporting cheese to EU countries with a continuously rising graph. Until this period, we have been a pioneering brand that has sustained cheese exports to EU countries in a sustainable manner. We believe that other domestic brands will follow in our footsteps. Today, Muratbey alone carries out approximately 70% of the cheese exports from Turkey to Germany. We are currently exporting almost every variety of our cheese to EU countries, primarily including Burgu, Topi, Sürmeli, Misto, Anadolu Lezzetleri, Plus series D vitamin-enriched cheeses, Antep, Örgü, Izgara Peynir, Naturena varieties, Van Otlu Peynir and Tel Peynir. We send our products to EU countries, particularly Austria, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands. We bring the taste of Turkish cheese to world tables.   Besides the USA, Central Eastern countries, North Africa and China are among our important export regions. The European market, Middle East and China are particularly our high-growth target regions. We progress towards becoming a global player by harmonizing the power and resources we draw from Turkey with innovation. Through our successful work, we have earned world-class awards. Under the Global Dairy Products Congress, at the World Dairy Products Innovation Awards, we succeeded in winning first place in the Best Cheese category with our own invention Burgu, marketed internationally as "Helix Cheese". We justly take pride in bringing this success to our country. We received the "Customers' Friend – Because It's You We Care About" Award in 2019, one of the world's most prestigious awards. In addition to the international "Customers' Friend" medal awarded by Switzerland-based ICERTIAS, we were also honored with Outstanding Excellence status. The same year; Muratbey's invention, Burgu cheese, was registered in the USA following approximately 60 countries worldwide. In 2020, at the World Dairy Innovation Awards, our Misto cheese, enriched with vitamin D and in a single mold shape, was a finalist in the "Best Children's Dairy" category. We were the only Turkish brand to become a finalist among 245 applications from 12 countries. That same year, readers of the German dairy and dairy products magazine Milch-Marketing selected Burgu cheese as "Product of the Year" for 2019/2020 in its category and it received the "Gold Award". Additionally, Muratbey Misto and Burgu Plus were honored with the "SIAL Innovation Selection 2020" title by the consumer products committee composed of independent experts at the SIAL Innovation Paris 2020 organization. By supporting healthy living, we continue our leadership in innovation. We have over 300 product varieties under the categories of Enriched Products, Innovative Products, Healthy Living, Gourmet, For Children, Snacks, and Traditional cheeses. Every year, we sign off on innovative work that will expand our product portfolio. We continue our leadership in the sector with prebiotic, whey protein source and immunity-supporting innovative products. We enter different markets with innovative products according to regional needs and promote our country's flavors and innovative tastes to the world through trade fairs and overseas digital work. As Turkey's fully domestic private capital cheese brand, continuing to contribute foreign exchange to the country's economy through the exports we carry out to five continents worldwide, having risen to the "Turquality" level in Turkey's most reputable Brand Support Program, we will realize our targeted growth by carrying our recognition and perception higher as a Turkish brand everywhere with the power and motivation we have gained. Through the Turquality® Program, which we were previously under brand support coverage and have now risen to the highest level, and which will take our global competitiveness to the top, we will progress in our operational structure, exports, obtaining high added value, development and sustainability, and continue to contribute to our country's economy. Today, among over 200 companies under Turquality®, there are only 19 brands in food (processed agricultural products). We take great pride in being one of only 3 dairy product producers among them and the only cheese brand under Turquality®.  

What is the importance of R&D for your company? Could you tell us about the R&D projects you have conducted recently?

With the scientific approach I gained from engineering and an innovative mindset, we try to add differentiation to cheese, a traditional flavor. For this purpose, we continuously conduct R&D work. As a result of these efforts, we brought Burgu and Misto to tables. Of course, our search for new flavors continues. I am involved in all stages of the production and R&D processes, actively participating in every stage from the idea phase onwards. The most important criterion that makes us unique in our field has been the innovative perspective we have brought to our sector. We offer innovative cheese varieties that we produce using machines of our own design and manufacture to both Turkish and world markets. We are the first company in the sector to use an ozone system to ensure operational hygiene in Turkey. String cheese production was being done entirely manually in the sector. We invented a machine that would make the production of this product more hygienic and efficient and solved the felting process through automation. We pioneered in our sector in making the production of this popular and widely used cheese type healthy and efficient. With the Naturena Series, entirely a product of our own R&D processes, we changed Turkey's and the world's understanding of cheese. Muratbey, responding with the proposal "Promoting Innovation in Fermented Foods" through joint work with Ankara University to the project call made by the COST Association, the European Cooperation Organization in Science and Technology, among whose founders Turkey is included, under the heading "Sustainable Ecosystems, Food and Agriculture: Securing Our Future by Respecting Our Planet," won the right to represent Turkey. Muratbey Cheeses will work together with scientists from 25 countries to make Europe the center of innovation in fermented foods within the scope of the project. The project will not only increase Muratbey Cheeses' R&D strength, product diversity and awareness, but will also contribute to the Turkish food sector. Our investment policies are structured around activities aimed at increasing exports, particularly R&D, digitalization and overseas communication.

If your company has initiated or led a social responsibility project, could you provide us with information about them?

Muratbey has always prioritized social responsibility projects that support public health for a better future. Muratbey, in this period when healthy nutrition and strong immunity have gained great importance, launched the "Eat Right Live Happy" project for public health. We anticipate that many of the trends that emerged during the pandemic will continue in the normalization process we are in and beyond. The experience has forced people to be more conscious and careful about their health. People focused on healthy eating, particularly nutrition that strengthens immunity. We plan work that will enable people to sustainably procure healthy, nutritious food, reaching the highest efficiency at every level from production to consumption. In addition, we are developing projects that raise awareness in society, explain scientific facts on topics where information pollution exists, and increase awareness. With the "Eat Right Live Happy" project, we aim to reach all segments of society from 7 to 70. With the support of our Nutritionist Prof. Dr. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu, we regularly share consciousness-raising content for consumers on YouTube on the 21st of each month. In addition to being one of Turkey's most loved cheese brands, we make an effort to contribute to the explanation of healthy nutrition to society with our responsibility to be a company sensitive to societal problems. We aim to continue contributing to the healthy development of children and youth through scholarships and sponsorships in health, sports and education, and to elevate societal benefit by supporting creative and innovative social projects. We are supporters of the Koç University Anatolian Scholars Program, one of Turkey's most important scholarship programs. We provide scholarships to many successful students from our prestigious universities. We have an internal volunteer project that we launched in 2018 and that continues to provide support for our country's children's future. Through the Children Reading with Muratbey Happy Tomorrows Project, we connect books we have in our own libraries or have purchased with children in need of books throughout Turkey. In the project we launched in November 2018, we succeeded in collecting approximately 1,000 books and nearly 5,000 school supplies at our headquarters and factory. Our goal in the Children Reading with Muratbey Happy Tomorrows Project is to continue this project and reach dozens of new schools every year. We also took on an important initiative with the "My Book on the Road Project" implemented by the Uşak Provincial Directorate of National Education under the supervision of the Uşak Governor for our children to gain reading habits. Within the scope of our "Women Adding Value to Cheese" project, which we launched to support female producers and women's economic empowerment, we organized trainings for producer women and will continue to do so. We also signed important work during the pandemic period, aware of our responsibility to society. To give an example; during the pandemic, we supported healthcare workers on duty at pandemic hospitals by helping them increase their immunity with our Muratbey Plus products fortified with vitamin D. We supported the mothers, teachers and healthcare workers of children undergoing treatment in the Pediatric Oncology Department of Istanbul Göztepe Education and Research Hospital. In this context, we delivered product packages that included Misto children's cheeses enriched with vitamin D to increase children's immunity, as well as Fresh Cheese Plus with vitamin D, Fresh Cheese Plus and Burgu Plus varieties. We also provided support to Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Cardiology Institute healthcare workers as requested during the pandemic period.  

Could you tell us about your goals for the coming years? What innovations await your company in the coming years?

In recent years, Muratbey has increased our export-oriented investments. In line with our five-year strategic plan, we aim to increase the share of exports in our revenue to 40%. Additionally, since our establishment, we have given great importance to R&D and innovation. Most recently, we strengthened our rich product portfolio with "Plus Creamy", our newest innovative product that strengthens immunity and the digestive system. Muratbey Plus Creamy, with its prebiotic and whey protein content, supports immunity and digestive systems and is also low in salt; it has extremely valuable content especially for athletes, children, the elderly and all those who want to eat healthily. With "Plus Creamy", we have once again developed a vitamin D-enriched product to continue supporting immunity. We are confident that our innovative products will accelerate our horizontal and vertical growth both domestically and in our target markets. On the other hand, we continue our digitalization work without interruption. For this purpose, in our two accredited R&D centers in Uşak Organized Industrial Zone, we continuously work on both product and production technologies. We regularly carry out automation investments in line with our digitalization goals. In addition to all these, to maintain our product quality, we support the farmers from whom we purchase milk and provide consultancy through our experts. We will continue the "Women Adding Value to Cheese" project this year as well, with the aim of contributing to the sector and supporting female producers and women's economic empowerment. Furthermore, sustainability has always been an important agenda for us. In our sector; we consider it our duty to pioneer social responsibility projects that will add value to our business, our brand and our country. Muratbey, which has previously conducted work within itself to reduce food loss and waste, joined the WRI 10x20x30 initiative. Also a member of the Sustainable Food Platform, Muratbey is accelerating its efforts to prevent waste at all stages of the supply chain from production to consumption.