Damla Bakliyat Interview
Damla Bakliyat Interview
Founded in 1981 by Adnan Çağlayan as a grocery store in Ankara Karşıyaka, Çağlayan Gıda laid the foundations of Damla Bakliyat, which is one of the leading brands in the pulses industry today.
At the end of 1983, it gained its current corporate identity with Çağlayan Gıda and continued its activities in the wholesale food field until 1990. In those years, a serious change occurred in the eating habits of the Turkish society, more importance was given to hygiene and quality, and packaged pulse products began to be preferred more. Adnan and Mustafa brothers noticed these changes and developments in the market and the needs of consumers early and put the first automatic pulse packaging machine into operation in 1987, thus starting to produce packaged pulses in addition to wholesale sales.
By moving to Gimat Wholesalers Site in 1990, it completely abandoned its wholesale food activities and started to serve the country in the sale of packaged pulses.
In the next 10 years, it closely followed the changes in world agriculture and the food industry, and in line with the increasing capacity and consumer needs, it put Turkey’s first pulses packaging facility into service in Kazan Sarayköy, built on an open area of 20,000 square meters and a closed area of 5,000 square meters, in 2003. has opened. This facility is equipped with the latest technological machines and the products produced under hygienic conditions are packaged untouched by human hands and offered for sale in local markets and stores, as well as in national chain stores such as Bim, Carrefour, Migros, Tansaş and Metro.
Today, Damla Bakliyat continues its work with the same determination by maintaining the same quality standard for each product it produces and keeping up with the developing and changing technology. We met with the General Manager of the company, Adnan Çağlayan, at the Damla Bakliyat factory operating in Kazan, Ankara.
- Could you tell us a little about your product range?
The product range is divided into rice and pulses. Rice is kept separately in Turkey. Varieties of rice, bulgur and lentils are available in our product portfolio. The caliber of chickpeas and beans varies depending on the region. We have sub-products such as corn, ashure wheat and kidney beans. The names of the various products are listed as bulgur for pilaf, bulgur for meatballs, dermason beans, Selanik beans, string beans, Spanish chickpeas, ram chickpeas, Bafra rice, Thrace baldo rice, broken rice, Osmancık rice, gon baldo rice.
- How can we rank in terms of consumption?
There is 65% rice consumption in Turkey. In recent years, there has been an increase in both consumption and production of rice. We have seen significant increases in bulgur consumption in recent years. The increase in bulgur consumption was achieved by social media and television. Doctors have made a lot of positive statements lately. These explanations directed people to legumes. In the past, these products were not consumed much at home. Women did not want to deal with making products such as chickpeas or beans at home. It turned out that there are products rich in both fiber and protein. For this reason, there was no decline in the consumption of pulse products. A type of food that was not very common in the past was created. Products such as boiled chickpeas or beans took their place among frequently consumed dishes. By adding these boiled products, meals can be prepared quickly.
- In which provinces can we access the products?
We mainly serve Ankara and surrounding provinces. Consumers can access our products in the Central Anatolia Region. Before, we were working very widely. We decided to change our working system a little bit. Since local companies have cut prices too much, profit margins have dropped a lot at some points. Additionally, there were significant increases in transportation and service items. In order not to compromise on quality, we decided to focus on our trade in the Central Anatolia Region, where we are better. Since we work with some chain markets, our products go to Izmit through the distribution channels of the markets. We mainly trade through markets. In the past, there were corporate markets. Many institutions such as Fiskobirlik had stores. These institutions were later withdrawn from the market. We used to supply products to all of these sales points. As markets such as A101, Bim and Şok became widespread, these institutions withdrew from the market. We are currently continuing our work with Bim stores.
- How do you find legume production in general?
Pulses are a product that is directly dependent on climatic conditions. In the past, the legumes we produced were enough for us. Some of the pulses were also exported. There has been a huge decline in pulse production in the past decade. The pulses produced are no longer sufficient for domestic consumption. Our country now imports these products. Ninety percent of the lentils we consume come from Canada and America. Sixty percent of chickpeas have been coming from abroad for the last three years. Beans are often sufficient for domestic consumption. Around twenty percent of beans are imported periodically. There are products such as sugar beans, rooster beans and bush beans that do not grow in Turkey or are produced in small amounts and are imported directly.
- What are the differences between these products?
Everyone wants to consume the products of their region. These products have different tastes and cooking times. Now, if I take the rooster beans home, maybe my wife will have a hard time making it. The cooking time may not be adjustable the first time. But the people who cook the second time learn the product. There is no difference in legumes other than beans. For example, lentils are the same everywhere. It does not vary by region or country.
- There are different types of rice abroad. Is this rice entering our country?
In the 1990s, basmati, jasmin, calrose, camolin and bristle rice entered our country. These products were not very popular in Turkey. Some are still coming. But none of them could replace Turkish rice. This problem occurs with every product. In the past, popcorn used to come to our country from Argentina. It was not in much demand in Egypt. Corn production is currently sufficient for us because our government supports it. When you pop two popcorns and taste them, you encounter serious differences.
- Do you export?
We ship to European countries on a container basis. Currently, there is no product in our industry that is packaged and delivered as 100% Turkish. The price structure of our domestic products is not compatible with abroad. Since the numbers here are higher than abroad, there is no demand there. We only export to free zones. For example, products come here by ship from regions such as Canada. These products are sold to another country through the free zone. The products sold here are not Turkish products.
There are around twenty companies of our size in the Mersin region. There are around fifteen other companies bigger than us. For example, large companies haul goods by ship. Since we import products on a container basis, this process is a bit expensive for us. Since these companies also export, they can bring the same amount of goods into the country duty-free. Turks’ export to the Middle East is not a logical export. The product we buy from abroad comes to Mersin and we make the payment to the bank. Afterwards, we purchase the goods. Since Turks sell goods abroad without receiving payment, this is a somewhat risky transaction. They send goods on credit, just like selling goods to the grocery store. We do not find this type of sales correct. We receive a lot of requests for this type. We hold meetings, but when we say we are working in advance, there is no second meeting.
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