Miller Magazine Issue: 132 December 2020

64 INTERVIEW MILLER / december 2020 modified grains and pulses as an alternative to industrial wheat flours and produce different types of flour such as chickpea, lentil, quinoa, farro, einkorn, karakilcik, (din- kel) spelt purple wheat, oat, rye, buckwheat and black rice flour with traditional methods in our modern stone mills. We carry out production in its natural form without adding any additives as in the past. Our products meet with consumers through national markets, organic shops and internet sales. What is the reason for you to produce in “Stone Mills” instead of roller mills making zero-touch pro- duction in the milling industry that has undergone a great change? The reason why we prefer particularly the stone mills is also due to health issues. As you know, low-speed grinding and low-temperature processing do not harm the nutrients in wheat. For this reason, flours processed in stone mills include the maximum amount of nutrients such as protein, gluten, carotene, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, iron, B1, B2, etc. Especially the amounts of carotene and vitamin E in flour produced by stone mills are 18 times higher than in other flours. Its low speed grinding feature preserves the molecular structure of the flour without any additives. While the surface of stone flour is light yellow when cooking noodles, other soups containing additives are white. Stone mill flour retains the original wheat flavor. Has the pandemic increased interest in your prod- ucts? Particularly which segments are interested in these flours? In the pandemic period, people show more interest in healthy and additive-free products in order to eat health- ier and strengthen the immune system. In line with this trend, we see that the interest in the products we pro- duce from ancient seeds and wheat is increasing day by day. Especially our consumers who bake sourdough bread at home prefer our products. I can say that almost every segment of consumers shows interest in our products. You have been operating in Edirne, Uzunköprü which is considered to be the center of rice produc- tion in Turkey. How did climate change affect rice pro- duction? As a company, we have been cultivating paddy abroad since 2013. We bring these products also to Turkey. Moreover, we cultivate paddy in our own land in Ed- irne, Turkey. In our country, there has been an increase in the cultivation areas in the pulses sector in recent years. Nonetheless, imports still continue. The yield has increased particularly with the increase of new varieties in paddy in the last years and I can say that foreign de- pendency in paddy is completely over. Climate changes reduce harvest productivity in rice production. Therefore, with the cultivation of all arable land, we may be less affected by these yield losses. In addition, the agricultural support provided by the gov- ernment to the farmers should be further increased. What kind of measures have you taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Has it affected your invest- ments? Our facilities are regularly disinfected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All of our personnel fall within the production phase, taking into account the necessary warnings (mask, hygiene, distance). In addition, our company established a separate gluten-free facility, con- sidering our customers with gluten sensitivity. Buckwheat (Greçka) and Pulses flour (Chickpea, Rice, Lentil, Corn, etc.) are produced in this facility. Human health is vital to us. That is why the rules are meticulously followed throughout all our production stages. If you have any final comments, we would be more than happy to hear them. I can say only this: Our aim on this road we started with the slogan "Healthy Eating is Everyone's Right" is to introduce our products to our consumers at more afford- able prices and to ensure continuity.