Ege Gıda is a respectful company producing fresh, healthy, tasty and natural products. Solena is the brand name of this important trademark.
The success of Solena in Turkey and international markets is a good example for building up a prestigious brand image. Food Turkey Magazine conducted an exclusive interview with Bursem Ege, Brand Manager of Solena. Following is the full text of the interesting conversation:
Could you brief us about your company with important milestones?
Ege Gıda first opened its doors in Aydın, with the production of olives and olive oil in 1995. In the last 17 years, Ege Gıda and “Solena” have become a recognized and trusted company and brand in the Balkan countries, especially in Romania. In January of 2012, through adding new product lines, Ege Gıda started to progress its business, with a goal of introducing their products to the domestic market. Aiming to supply their consumers with the modern interpretations of Aydın’s regional vegetable desserts, the company pasteurized traditional desserts in glass jars and cans, enabling them to maintain their freshness for as long as 12 months. As a company favoring the demands of their customers, Ege Gıda aims to follow the contemporary trend of meeting consumer needs directly. Currently, the company has an online sales channel and delivers its products to each and every corner of Turkey in the fastest way possible. Proud and honored to serve you %100 natural products, we wish you a healthy life enabled through healthy products.
What does your product range include?
– Solena brand consists of three main product groups; olive, olive oil and dessert. Dessert group composed of seven types of products;
· Pumpkin Dessert
· Green Walnut Dessert
· Fig Dessert with Walnut
· Beetroot Dessert
· Crispy Pumpkin Dessert
· Quince Dessert
· Bitter Orange Dessert
What would you say about your quality and capacity?
Solena is a boutique firm. We are not producing the products that every people must have. Solena’s products are gathered in the season and keep the taste as it just picked off. No additive and preservative stuff used and presented in glass jars. Our products do not include any stuffs that threaten people’s health. We give much care about presenting best products to our customers. They are being presented by using very pure and rude products.
The amount of pumpkin and walnut grow in our country is evident. So, we are able to meet to the demands of our customers. Our company and products have the necessary documentations.
What about your exports? How do you promote your products abroad? What would you say about your export figures, current markets and target markets?
The biggest advantage of our products is to be pasteurized and having 12 months of shelf life. These facilities make it easier for Solena to open to the world and also they can easily be transported. We produce desserts made from vegetables and fruits that everybody knows. Flavors that come from the ground are dished up by Solena. Our brand is promoting the delights of Turkish cuisine to foreigners who do not know anything about it. Also for Turks lives abroad that misses Turkish delight our products are available.
And for the Turks lives abroad we take their favorite desserts to their gates.
Everybody are looking for new products and tastes in the world. So I believe that our brand will find a place in the market and make itself pleasant. Delicatessen, market, restaurant and hotels are potential customers of us. Our products are available in various packaging materials for retail and wholesale sales. Our products has already begun intercontinental journey.
How do you act with regards to innovations, changes and developments? Do you have a product development service?
I would like to launch Solena as modern take on the traditional desserts of Turkey. Because Solena follows trends and asks to the consumers what they want then answer for the claims. In recent years, most of the people live like eating fast food. Most of the time people just want to fill their stomachs and eat quickly whatever on their plates not to think about healthy or not. For this reason, we have produced small sized packaging jars for easy consumption.
People are so busy in everyday life. We thought that rather than go to the store online shopping would be so comfortable for them. We aimed to make shopping available for all people by providing our products both in markets and online. We keep renewing ourselves.
Are there problems in your sector and do you have solution suggestions for them?
Problems are everywhere and never ending. There are some other competitor companies that produce from the some kind of our products, but some of them are making the production under bed conditions not using good materials and also using additive stuffs. By doing so, they are lowering market price and make you look like an expensive brand. We are aiming to present the best products at the minimum cost of its worth. All the companies need to be supervised more often and eliminate the unfair competition.
Do you have any plans or targets for the short term?
I want to change the perception of desserts not sold in glass jars. It should not be forgotten that the healthiest packaging is a glass jar. My biggest goal is to get into all the houses and place in the tables with Solena desserts. I have been succeeded when especially housewives prefer Solena desserts instead of whisking the cake immediately. Targets never end. I hope that one day there will be at least one point of Solena sale in all over the world.
Is there anything that you would like especially to mention?
Health comes first. As I mentioned above we are proud and honored to serve you %100 natural products. I wish you a healthy life enabled through healthy products.
