Miller Magazine Issue 109 / January 2019

65 INTERVIEW MILLER / JANUARY 2019 Producing flour for a quarter of a century with the motto of “For those who seek quality in flour,” Halim Kırtız Food Industry is among the prominent companies in the Turkish milling sector at the production of flour. Acquired a small facility in 2006 at Antalya Organized Industrial Site and improved the facility continually by making new investments, the company increased its production to 700 tons/day and had a fully automated facility with large capacity. Halim Kırtız Food Industry, whose general manager is Cem Oğuz Kırtız that has close to a thirty-year experience in flour industry, maintains its stable position within the sector with right price policy and using new technologies that make a difference in flour production. Being the first interviewee of 2019 of Miller Magazine, Cem Oğuz Kırtız answered questions candidly. Saying that the sector’ idle capacity exceeds fifty percent, Kırtız noted the fierce competition conditi- ons will accelerate consolidations and mergers. Kırtız - a doyen – said his company is open to new acquisition and mergers, adding that “The best thing we can do as the sector is to increase the productivity of mergers.” Cem Oğuz Kırtız warned that Turkish companies can face with challenging production problems if the price remains below the world price and explains things to do in order to prevent possible wheat and flour shortage in the country. “Two most important problems that Turkish farmers face with are scale and input costs. If we compa- re the scale, Turkey cultivates wheat in a vase. The small size of farmers also requires them to generate higher in- come in a unit area. To avoid falling short of self-suffi- ciency in production, we should make it possible that our farmers gain more than the world’s price,” he said. Saying that his company thrives to provide a new pro- duct to the sector with the research and development efforts, Cem Oğuz Kırtız said his company works on the frozen products that gained popularity recently. The fro- zen products have significant turnover, according to Kır- tız. He said the size of the frozen products will increase even though its current size is small. The following is the interview with Cem Oğuz Kırtız, the General Manager of Halim Kırtız Food Industry. Mr. Kırtız, you have spent years in this sector – that’s why we know you. Yet, can you introduce yourself for our readers? I was born in 1968 in Polatlı as a child of a farmer. I completed middle and high school in Polatlı. After that, I graduated from the accounting department of Izmir 9 Eylül University. In 1990, I completed compulsory mili- tary service and began my professional career at Kırtızlar Flour Factory that belongs to my family. In 2000, I was elected as a board member of the Ankara Millers Associa- tion – an umbrella organization for our sector. I became a board member of the Turkish Flour Industrialists’ Federa- tion (TUSAF) in 2005. In 2006, after working for sixteen years, I left Kırtızlar Flour Factory that was very good, joyous, and useful. In the same year, we bought a flour factory with a capacity of 250 tons located in Antalya with the support of my siblings – Yeliz and Erol Kırtız – under the leadership of our father Halim Kırtız. You spent years in the management staff in Kırtızlar Flour established by Yavuz Kırtız. Then, you bought a factory in Antalya, and your company has grown rapidly. Later, you changed the name of the company to Halim Kırtız Food Industry. Can you provide infor- mation about your factory?