Miller Magazine Issue: 154 October 2022

As Doruk Un, we rank among the top three brands in Turkey in the field of wheat and wheat-based products. We have an annual wheat crushing capacity of 438 thousand tons and a flour production of 350 thousand tons. Moreover, we have a wheat storage capacity of 60 thousand tons and a 20 thousand m2 hi-tech facility. In 2021, we achieved a turnover of 1.8 billion TRY. We aim to increase our turnover to 7.25 billion TRY in 5 years through new investments. Due to the rapid increase in exchange rates and the shrink- ing trade network due to the pandemic, the flour industry, which is one of the main staple food, has gone through the hoop. Despite this, we have left behind a successful period and a fruit- ful harvest. The flour sector, which has a strategic importance in the whole world economy, had a challenging time due to exchange rate increases, climatic effects, pandemic and eco- nomic uncertainties brought by the pandemic. Serious global price imbalances have occurred and continue to occur. In 2021, we, as Doruk Un, achieved our goals despite all these poor conditions. Our short-term goal is to deepen our strength in the sector by making production and logistics investments that will support our supply chain. Besides, we are implementing our plans to manage flour requirements in different categories in line with the correct market, product and demand. You have a rapidly growing success. Although it does not have a very long history, you have made the lists of ISO 500 and TİM’s (Turkish Exporters Assembly) Top 1000 Exporters. What is the secret lying behind this success? Although we are a company established in 2015, all of us, including the employees and the team, have worked with the know-how, customer portfolio and potential of the companies we have worked with in the past. So it’s not like starting over a new company from scratch. As I said, we have come to this point with our 30 years of history, business, know-how and cus- tomer experience in the places we had worked. WHEAT HARVEST EXCEEDED 19 M TONS Last year, we had a subpar harvest season due to the drought. We have come to the end of this year’s harvest. Can you share with us your harvest estimates and the latest information you have received from the field? Last year was a bad season, as you expressed. There are different figures. But according to TurkSTAT’s figures, there is an increase of 10-15 percent across Turkey between last year and this year. This means that we have a wheat yield of around 19 million tons this year. According to us, the wheat production was around 16-17 million tons last year. The amount of precip- itation and climatic conditions of our country, especially last winter, allowed us to have a productive harvest period. In fact, Turkey is a self-sufficient country in wheat. There will be a significant increase in wheat production if the accurate ag- ricultural policies are executed in Turkey and if TMO continues INTERVIEW 81 MILLER / OCTOBER 2022