Dr. Reza Beyoğlu, Birsen Kimya: “In order to have a say in the global market, your production line and software in your system must be up-to-date and compatible with world technologies and combined with after-sales technical support for customers. We observe that when you provide these and earn customer trust, the price issue remains in the second - even third - plan.”

Interview by: Cemalettin KANAŞ

In the Turkish market, which is almost foreign-dependent in feed additives, domestic companies try to strengthen their position and increase their market share. Birsen Kimya shines out as a company producing feed additives and feed concentrates in Turkey and exporting to many countries. As Feed Planet magazine, we had the opportunity to have an interview with Dr. Reza Beyoğlu, Board Member of Birsen Kimya in this issue. Sharing his technical knowledge as well as his company's strategies with us, Dr. Reza Beyoğlu says that competition must go beyond price-quality parallelism. Beyoğlu states that companies adapting themselves to the latest technology in terms of production, sales and after-sales support increase customer satisfaction and thus establishing a trust relationship becomes possible. After gaining this trust, customers focus on the total profit rather than price, he says. Beyoğlu also mentioned that they are obliged to be picky with the customers in order to ensure the sustainability of the cash cycle: “No sales should be made just for the sake of saying well I have achieved sales under the title of export. The bank and payment terms in the customer's country should be convenient and appropriate as well. This is one of the most important issues in this regard.” Another issue that the young manager highlights is the producers who break into the market without having the prerequisite know-how. Reza Beyoğlu says that such companies are damaging the sector and the reputation of the country and argues that companies making unlicensed production must be severely fined through critical inspections.

Birsen Kimya's Board Member Dr. Reza Beyoğlu's answers to our questions are as follows:

Could you introduce your company to our readers? Our company Birsen Kimya Sanayi Limited Şirketi was founded in 2011 in Kahramankazan, Ankara based on the production of feed additives and feed concentrates. As it is understood from the field of activity, we aim to facilitate the feeding of all livestock, particularly poultry and bovines, and to provide all the nutrients farmers need for feeding the animals and to meet their needs in a more organized and orderly manner. In doing so, we aim to minimize costs in the annual expenditures of farmers and breeders and wastages and to be the solution partner of animal owners while increasing productivity and performance with optimum recipes and reliable content. In other words, while the performance and productivity of animals are increased within a certain order, we contribute to the level of satisfaction of the breeders by increasing their profit share with lower-cost rations in total.

Competition is one of the essential elements of the free market. What are the factors that differentiate Birsen Kimya from its competitors in the feed additive market? When competition is mentioned, quality and price competition are the first to come to mind. However, I think that these alone are not enough. In order to have a say in the global market, your production line and software in your system must be up-to-date and compatible with world technologies and combined with after-sales technical support for customers. In this way, the customer should be provided with all kinds of support both in terms of the product and animal welfare and feel satisfied. We have achieved success by making a clear difference to our competitors in fulfilling these concepts. This being the case, we observe that when you provide these and earn customer trust, the price issue remains in the second - even third - plan, particularly for overseas customers. The most difficult part of the trade is gaining customer trust, and once you have achieved that, the customer begins to focus on the total profit rather than the product unit price you have offered. In this way, possible price competition with similar firms is eliminated automatically.

You are being recognized as a company that prioritizes exports. In which markets have you become established and which ones do you target? What are the challenges you face? Yes, essentially we are an export-based company and in foreign markets, we continue our commercial relations with countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Cyprus, and Egypt actively. We are making plans to further improve this day by day. Although we are talking about the foreign market, due to fluctuations in foreign exchange markets and instability in exchange rates in most of the countries in our neighborhood; we are trying to proceed meticulously about customer selection and work policy. Because the goal here is to move hand in hand with stable customers. No sales should be made just for the sake of saying well I have achieved sales under the title of export. The fact that the bank and payment terms in the customer's country should be convenient and appropriate for us is one of the most important issues in this regard. We call it the cash cycle in short. In order to ensure the sustainability of this cash cycle, the flow of money between countries must continue smoothly and without obstacles. This has been a common problem for all sectors, especially recently. It doesn't seem like we have a problem for now, but it doesn't mean we won't face it for the future. Therefore, as I said, it is always useful to be cautious about this issue.

Considering product quality and price go parallel with each other to some extent, on which scale do you position your company and products? Yes, these two concepts are inseparable. They love to go hand in hand and navigate in the same direction. That is, an increase in quality means an increase in price. It's not something we don't know. Nonetheless, a question mark may appear in your mind; But how come you can plan to market at an affordable price while continuing to maintain the quality of your products in a competitive environment? I have two answers here. First, as I just mentioned, we are not performing sales just for the sake of having made sales. I have mentioned our picky customer policy. That adds up to the same thing. I mean, creating a conscious customer portfolio has always solved this problem. There is no need to further discuss and argue with a conscious customer who knows himself, what he wants and for what kind of product he is making this payment. This being the case, the principle of preferring to work with three large, solid and conscious customers instead of working with ten weak ones emerges. Secondly, the policy of importing certain products and raw materials in high tonnage and in this way reducing the total cost and providing optimal prices is being applied. That's two gains. In this way, you become the raw material supplier of many companies in the domestic market, protect your relations and contact with the domestic market and also benefit from the price advantage in your own production. As a result, it will be no more difficult to offer quality products to the customer at very reasonable prices.

How do you evaluate the pros and cons of the Turkish feed and feed additives sector? What should be done to sustain development? Unfortunately, this sector faces several significant problems in Turkey. You are trying to produce the best product content and taking various parameters into account such as raw material characteristics, animal species, characteristics, and needs. This is a real specialty. But in our country, it is not considered in this way. Many people who lack the slightest know-how and experience have entered this sector and have had successive failures. This situation, which is becoming more and more widespread, has caused irreparable damage to Turkish brands' reputation in the global arena. As for the solution, first of all, inspections need to be tightened. Unlicensed enterprises should be fined severely. In addition, it should be planned to obtain and periodically inspect the quality certificates from high-level certified institutions under the inspection and supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. Significant enforcement should be imposed against irregularities by some authorities until sufficient standards are fulfilled. On the other hand, some incentives and concessions should be provided for the firms that do their job properly so that the right and wrong are separated from each other with clear lines. Of course, both the owners and employees of the company, producers and livestock breeders and the state organs should work in an organized and coordinated manner.

In recent years, comments claiming that climate change will make access to raw materials more difficult are becoming widespread. What measures do you take for the short- and medium-term as a company? In fact, I have touched on this to some extent. As a matter of fact, I think that we are not affected by such situations as our company is active in importing large-scale raw materials. Since we always plan the long term as a company, I don't think we will have problems. Of course, nobody knows what surprises the future will bring. Therefore, it is not possible to say something clear.

What are the challenges of operating in the same market as foreign companies? How do you deal with these challenges? We call them warm-up exercises rather than challenges. Foreign companies have played a stimulating role for companies like us. That is, we have closely followed such companies and localized our strategy according to the conditions in our country. In addition, we have accelerated our R & D and innovation efforts according to the market requirements. This has always returned to us as added value. In other words, this situation has played a major role in improving our maneuverability and shaping our competition with them in the long-term. This is also an effective factor for keeping yourself up-to-date.

Do you have something to add? Oh yes, there's a lot I want to add, of course. However, I think it is best to settle regarding the time limitation of this interview. But let me say this much anyway: We really wish everyone who makes no concessions of their honesty and deserves success by giving the business its due. Besides, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you and all your team members who have contributed to this interview on behalf of the Birsen Kimya family and wish you continued success.