Kazım Taycı, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of TAYAŞ Gıda, which exports to 136 countries, announced that he is a presidential candidate at the ordinary general assembly of the Istanbul Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds and Products Exporters’ Association (İHBİR) to be held in April. Taycı and his management determined the target export markets if elected as follows: Far East, South America, USA, Canada.
The umbrella NGO of the cereals, pulses and oilseeds industry, which is expected to close this year with an export of approximately 9 billion dollars, will elect its new president in April. Kazım Taycı, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of TAYAŞ Gıda Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., announced that he is a presidential candidate in the ordinary general assembly of the Istanbul Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds and Products Exporters’ Association (İHBİR). Şemsettin Memiş, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board of Başhan, Kürşad Gülbahar, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board of Naturel Global, Nermin Çakır, Member of the Board of Directors, Haliç International, İsmail Gül, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board of Zirve Çikolata, and Hüseyin Eviz, General Manager, Ak Nişasta take place in Taycı’s management.
He determined the target markets, he said, “We will not export by sitting down”
Declaring that they expect the sector to close the year with approximately 9 billion dollars in exports, Kazım Taycı shared the following information, “We estimate that approximately 26 percent of this figure in exports will be realized by the Istanbul Exporters’ Association. Over 70 percent of the cereal is in snacks. The rest comes from grain and direct raw material exports. Therefore, we are faced with high demands created by a world slowed down by the pandemic and then reactivated. If our exporters take the right steps and make the right plans together with our government, we can make this situation sustainable. If we do not do this, we will not be able to maintain the current rise. We have to organize and participate as many organizations as there are organizations that we can introduce ourselves abroad. Especially by holding the hands of the producers under SMEs and SMEs, we definitely need to take these companies and these people there. If we want to be more present in the European market and to sell more products, we have to turn to modern distribution channels. It is essential for me to turn to big chains, cash and carry stores. We need to buy data. Today, there are sometimes regional and sometimes global data prepared by many international global organizations. Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack by determining the consumption, production and import rates in countries, we need to draw a route and move forward.”
Emphasizing that the snack group exports to approximately 75 countries, Taycı said, “The Middle East, Arab geography and partially Turkic Republics make up a large part of this. We are weak in countries such as the Far East, South America, USA and Canada and these markets are our main targets. When we add up the entire population of Europe, it is 500 million, while China alone has a population of 1.5 billion. There is a potential population of 250 million in China who are interested in imported products. It is difficult to enter these countries. However, once you enter and comply with their regulations, you enter a regular and stable market. First of all, the Japanese and Koreans welcome the Turkish people and the Turkish nation with sympathy. Although the Chinese are a little stricter, they do not have a negative view of our products. With the right moves, one of the product items that Turkey has exported the most to China in the near future may be the sugar and cocoa products group. It may be a difficult road, but companies that can stand behind this decision can earn very serious income in the long and medium term. We will also go to Japan, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.”
“We will get a bigger share of the global pie”
Evaluating the current situation of the industry, the İHBİR Presidential Candidate continued his words as follows: “When we look at the raw material basis, if we consider sugar as an imported input, the costs based on foreign currency within our total costs are at the level of 75 percent. If we take the right steps, we think that we can achieve a growth of about 7 to 10 percent in 2022. Currently, all of our companies are at full capacity for the next four months. There is no problem in selling, there is a problem in buying. Raw material is now sold in cash. We see opportunities in the world for our industry. One of the main reasons we embarked on this path is the opportunities that lie before us. The global size of pastry, cocoa and sugar products is approximately 240 billion dollars. Our exports in Turkey are approximately 4 billion dollars in this group. Our main goal is to increase this share, and more importantly, to ensure that it is on a continuous upward trend.”
