Aylin Şensabah, Agromiks: "Women have always been involved in agricultural production in the field and this has been the case since ancient times. But when women become active in the commercial sector on top of production, they face a patriarchal structure. We prefer to be somewhat clear about issues such as collections, checks, and payments. We are experiencing the difficulties of this."

Interview by: Cemalettin KANAŞ

The livestock sector has witnessed an increased sensitivity to antibiotic use in recent years. Experts of the field say that antibiotic use cannot be set to zero, it should rather be minimized. Aylin Şensabah, the owner of feed additive company Agromiks, mentioned the significance of producing natural alternatives to antibiotics in an interview with Feed Planet, feed industry specialty magazine. Aylin Şensabah said that the company has been progressing with this goal since its establishment and added: "We aimed to raise healthy animals, healthy products and healthy generations that consume them. We conduct our production with essential oils. Essential oils are alternative substances to antibiotics. Today, the trend is in this direction not only in Europe or the USA but also in the Middle East countries that we are in connection with." The successful businesswoman said that when women who traditionally have been working in agriculture begin to take an active role in trade, they encounter obstacles in business life. Şensabah says that the growth trend of the Turkish feed sector has a positive impact on the additives sector and that the interest of Turkish producers will increase correspondingly in the course of time.

First of all, can we recognize Agromiks? Agromiks was founded with the support of KOSGEB (Turkish Development Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises) for women entrepreneurs. We employ 8 staff, 4 of whom are women. Our enterprise produces feed additives in the form of liquid, powder, and gel in 640 m2 closed area in Kemalpaşa, İzmir. Our company makes contract manufacturing to veterinary clinics, companies and feed factories that need feed additives in Turkey. We do not make direct sales to the domestic market. As for the exports, we are the direct seller of the products we produce with our own formulas. Our company holds ISO 22000, GMP, Halal certificate and ISO 9001 certificate. In addition, our brand AGROMIKS is officially registered.

“WE AIM TO GRANT DISTRIBUTORSHIP TO 5 MORE COUNTRIES” KOSGEB featured our company on the entrepreneur of the week page. They interviewed us several times. With the support of KOSGEB's KOBİGEL project, we increase our production capacity every day by procuring machinery in our plant. We were also awarded a plaque by the Minister of Agriculture of Pakistan during our visit to the agricultural fair in Lahore due to our exports to Pakistan. We gave an interview to a Pakistani local television channel.

Of course, we have targets. Considering what we have achieved so far, these goals are not too far, too big, or unattainable. We want to convert our production lines to full automation, to grant distributorships in at least more 5 countries and to receive GMP Plus quality standard. In this way, we will realize our dream of exporting to Europe. These are some of our goals.

“WE DO NOT APPLY MINIMUM QUANTITY QUOTA” When I have a look at your website, I see that you make products meeting the needs of various species such as ruminants, poultry, fish, horses, cats, and dogs. What do you owe this diversity that you have achieved in a short time to? Being only a producer allowed us to focus on the production of feed additives for different animal species. The demands of companies working for different animal species and the demands on imports supported this situation. We assess demands regarding the production and respond to the needs of customers quickly. We produce samples based on the existing formulas of our customers or the ones we further developed. When the desired color, odor and consistency of the product are agreed on, we start production in the amount desired by the company. The requested product amounts differ according to the corresponding animal species. Since we do not apply a minimum quantity quota under our company policy, we can also respond to low quantity demands, expand our customer portfolio and increase our feed additive diversity.

Which countries do you export to and which countries you intend to do? What are the challenges of doing this? How do you plan to overcome these challenges? The countries we export directly to are Pakistan and Egypt; the countries to which we export indirectly to are Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where our products have been registered recently will also join our export countries.

The most challenging part in the relevant countries is getting the products registered, forming distributorships to the target areas and getting the necessary documents prepared through these distributorships.

I AM ONE OF RARE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS What makes you different from your domestic and foreign competitors? I am one of the rare female entrepreneurs and producers in the sector. We produce with the sensitivity of a woman at the highest level, we do not have a restriction on the amount of requested products, we keep our formulas confidential sensitively, we provide some companies with formula supports that they need, and we can offer better prices than our foreign competitors. These are the factors that distinguish us from our rivals to an extent. As a matter of fact, women have always been involved in agricultural production in the field and this has been the case since ancient times. However, when women become active in the commercial sector on top of production, they face a patriarchal structure. We prefer to be somewhat keep things clear about issues such as collections, checks, and payments. We are experiencing the difficulties of this.

The Turkish feed industry is largely foreign-dependent in feed additives such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. What are the reasons for this? Can we learn your future assessments? This is because, unfortunately, they cannot be produced in Turkey. Vitamin production is under the control of major companies in the world. Unfortunately, also some raw materials used in feed additives have to be imported. As a matter of fact, I'm worried about foreign dependency in general regardless of the specific material. You cannot control the price or quality of a material that is under the control of someone else. You can only assess what is offered to you.

However, to give an example about the essential oils we use; climatic conditions of Turkey are suitable for both the production and culture of thyme, mint, rosemary, lavender, sage, lime tree and so on. If the production of these and similar essential oil-derived plants used in feed additive production is increased, imports will be kept at a certain low level.

It is known that the Turkish feed sector has achieved continuous growth for long. How does this affect Turkish feed additive companies? The feed additive sector is also growing in parallel with the growth of the feed sector. This will, for sure, increase the number of domestic feed additive companies. The customer satisfaction of the companies that improve themselves better with quality standards will increase. In addition, the interest of the foreign feed additives companies in Turkish companies is increasing.

With the increased awareness of the consumer, the necessity of minimizing the use of antibiotics in animals comes to the agenda more frequently. What do you think about this? The world is now being purified of antibiotics. This was our starting point when we established our business: producing natural alternatives to antibiotics. We aimed to raise healthy animals, healthy products and healthy generations consuming them. We make production with essential oils. Essential oils are alternative substances to antibiotics. The demand is in this direction not only in Europe or the USA but also in the Middle East countries we are in contact with.

Is there anything you want to add? Last but not least, I am very happy to do my job, to produce value-added products in spite of all the difficulties and play a part in production and export. Since my college years, my only dream was to take part in the production. I am happy to reach this. As I mentioned in one of my previous interviews, I achieved some of my goals. What is great for me is to start dreaming again for new targets once I reach the existing ones.