“Normally, the development of a new product lasts six months in average, with a long process from R&D to production. However, we developed Ülker Nutritious Biscuits in just four days. These biscuits are not for sale and are delivered to the earthquake-hit region free of charge. There are just a few companies in the world that can achieve such a successful development process in such a short time.”

Ali Ülker
Chair of The Board at Yıldız Holding

It has been more than a month since the earthquake in Turkey, which caused a huge tragedy, a devastating destruction, and heartbreaking events. Yet we also witnessed happy moments that touched our hearts. People found alive among the debris days after the earthquake or mothers and children reuniting in good health brought us consolation to a certain extent.

While struggling within such complex emotions, we, at Yıldız Holding, also experienced a happy development that made us proud. As you may have already guessed, I mean the development of Ülker Nutritious Biscuits. Thanks to this development, I have once again personally witnessed how long-established corporations that work like a clock can be resilient enough to take rapid actions during crisis and difficulties

Normally, the development of a new product lasts six months in average, with a long process from R&D to production. However, we developed Ülker Nutritious Biscuits in just four days. These biscuits are not for sale and are delivered to the earthquake-hit region free of charge. There are just a few companies in the world that can achieve such a successful development process in such a short time. Therefore, the process led by Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan and his team is truly a success story.

The idea of developing Ülker Nutritious Biscuits was ignited during our field work in the region. As we worked in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent since the first day of the earthquake and received direct feedback from the field thanks to our teams, employees, and suppliers in the region, we had the opportunity to get a clearer view of the needs. We realized that people need not just food to feed themselves, but special nutritious products rich in minerals and vitamins.

Thus, in cooperation with the Yıldız Holding senior management team, Mete Buyurgan took action and asked Ülker team to identify the qualities expected from such a product. With the advantage of our agile, digital corporate structure that can take quick actions, we first designed the product with our R&D team. We devised a brand-new recipe so that the product not only fills the stomachs but also serves as a nutritious agent in the region. This is how Ülker Nutritious Biscuits that support the immune system with iron and zinc and energize people with B1, B2 and B3 vitamins were born.

However, due to time restraint, this new recipe had to be suitable for production on our existing lines. The only way to confirm this was to work with our production teams. Under normal circumstances, products are first developed in R&D, then tested in labs, and finally transferred to the production, but we did not have that much time. So, we immediately included the production team into our meetings and created the most suitable recipe for rapid production all together. Our teams worked non-stop for a full day in the lab and then we immediately sent the resulting recipe to our factory. With a test run on the existing production line, we saw that the new product is tasty, nutritious, and easy to manufacture.

The next step was to have packaging materials ready, because it was impossible to start mass production without packaging. This was the time to benefit from the trust-based, strong bonds of Yıldız Holding and its companies with suppliers. One of our packaging material suppliers had the sufficient amount of materials that fit the qualities we needed. We immediately signed a contract and launched the manufacturing of a simple, easy-to-produce packaging design. Upon a request directly from Mete Buyurgan, our supplier postponed all other production processes at hand and manufactured our packaging materials in approximately one day. Meanwhile, special carboard boxes to place the packaged biscuits were designed and produced. To avoid any misconduct, we put a “not for sale” stamp on every box.

Once the packaging materials were ready, we loaded them on a private truck and delivered them to the Ülker factory in Ankara. The factory was already waiting to start production and as soon as the packaging materials were unloaded from the truck, all production lines were halted and relaunched to produce Ülker Nutritious Biscuits. Soon the biscuits were produced, packaged, and placed into boxes. Meanwhile, we worked with the Turkish Red Crescent for distribution. Identifying the need in various cities, we delivered the biscuits first to Kahramanmaraş and Hatay. Today, we still continue producing Ülker Nutritious Biscuits depending on the needs and deliver them to tent cities in various cities under the guidance of the Red Crescent.

As I have stated above, this biscuit that we developed in just four days is a great success story and even a world record, perhaps.

Many thanks to all colleagues and especially to Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan who succeeded in creating this miracle, by making it possible to achieve the impossible.