“We have provided employment and contributed to the national economy by making large-scale investments in the industry. We are very active in domestic and international markets. There is a great interest and trust in our company. In order to meet the demand of our customers, we have expanded the production areas of our company. With this investment move, we are one step closer to our goals.”

Salwan Naji CEO Altuntop Isı ve Makina

Bakery and bakery equipment continue to be the shining sectors of the last period. Altuntop Isı ve Makina Sanayi, which has been serving in the field of bakery equipment for 30 years and has made many innovations in the sector, is aiming to be the best. The company, which exports the bakery equipment they produce in Turkey to nearly 100 countries, continues its investments with the motto of not leaving even a small point that they cannot sell products within the country.

Altuntop Isı ve Makina Sanayi CEO Salwan Naji, who made an investment that increased their production capacity by 40 percent in order to meet customer demands, explained the company's investments all over the world to BBM Magazine. Mr. Naji said that their goal is to be among the leading companies of the sector in the country and abroad. Mr. Naji's sincere answers to our questions are as follows: Dear Mr. Naji, first of all, we would like to thank you for accepting our interview request and having your valuable time for us. Could you give us information about the works of Altuntop Isı Makina Sanayi, which has a history of more than 30 years? First of all, we would like to thank you for giving us a place in your magazine and giving us the opportunity to convey our thoughts on our industry.

Setting off from a workshop, Altuntop has rapidly climbed the steps of success with its 22-thousand-square-meter area. The biggest factor in our growth is that we always follow the customer requests by acting in the sectoral direction with our time and labor power. During growth, we have never failed to follow both professionalism and the latest technology. In line with our goal of reaching every market and touching every table, we have participated in numerous exhibitions and such participation will go on as is. Sparing our time and know-how to be in the first place in the sector, we are now making a name for ourselves in almost every part of the world. Our goal is always to be better and go further. With our professional team, experienced employees and strong customer network, we continue to work with all our strength to position our name and brand at the top in the sector.

You operate in many fields of the industry, from bakery products to dough processing, fermentation systems and auxiliary equipment. What kind of an advantage does your multifaceted operation provide you? We regard our customers as our business partners. Investors are now accustomed to the convenience of doing business by receiving services from a single brand. Because when working with a single company, addressing the same point for even the smallest problem makes things easier. Our customers come with peace of mind and buy all the machines needed to make bread or cake from here and complete their shopping without losing their interest with a single transport. The customer always wants a brand of which he is sure of the quality to produce all the equipment he uses in his own production site. In fact, this is what we exactly offer. We are the manufacturer's way of saying "Do you want to be a baker? Come with us". We continue to assist the bakers with alternative products in the production of bakery products with all kinds of machinery production on behalf of the bakery industry. Our machines, which we produce with the latest technology, save time and enable the customers to produce more products in a shorter period of time. Our wide production lines help the bakery industry to offer a high volume of products.

In other words, I can say that when an investor who wants to establish a bread production facility contacts us, he or she can procure all kinds of products from the same place, from bread baking oven to dough kneading mixer, dough processing, cutting, weighing and auxiliary equipment. Likewise, patisseries and baklava producers can reach our products from the same place for their production facilities.

You have increased your production capacity by 40 percent with an investment of 50 million liras during the pandemic process. Can we get your thoughts on this investment and your next moves? Since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, we have continued our delivery and post-delivery services with great care in domestic and international markets, following all national and international rules. We regard this investment as a small step when compared to the investments we will make in the future. As a company, we have bigger projects for the future.

We have provided employment and contributed to the national economy by making large-scale investments in the industry. We are very active in domestic and international markets. There is a great interest and trust in our company. In order to meet the demand of our customers, we have expanded the production areas of our company. With this investment move, we are one step closer to our goals. Thanks to the additional investment of 50 million TL, we increased our production by 40 percent by generating new jobs. We try to satisfy customer demands as quickly as possible.

It seems that all countries have really adapted to the issue of mass production bakery. Mass production is a very important point in satisfying the demands of the customers. In this world, which is developing and renewing every day, the capacity of the need is increasing rapidly. The number of our customers in the bakery sector is increasing day by day. Despite these increasing demands, we started to satisfy customer requests and demands faster with the investment we made in our production area. In a way, we started mass production with the concentration of customer requests and demands on us. In fact, this investment, which is one of our long-awaited projects, has been a good proof of how efficiently we satisfy customer demands and expectations. Altuntop continues on its way with new investments and new ideas. Our projects will, of course, continue. Like this investment, I can give you a clue that our future investments and projects are to ensure customer satisfaction and to raise our name even higher with the successes we will achieve in the world market. We already used to be a strong supplier, but with this investment, we proved that we are a strong supplier by accelerating our production. Thanks to these investments, we are constantly expanding our product range. Our machines not only ease the workload of the industry, but also serve as visual objects for companies. Now, in many bread production points you enter, our bakery machines stand out at first glance. In the past, ovens were installed in the most secluded corners of the enterprise. Now our ovens are installed in the most favourite places of businesses. Because they provide visuality that completes the business. They provide integrity.

Recently, industrial bakeries have become very popular all around the world. You also have production for this field. What do you think about and expect from the industrial bakery? Business partnerships are made with intermediary firms abroad in order to carry out larger scale businesses. In this industry, where we have crossed the borders of the country, we strive to be the reason to start the business with confidence for every baker. We are aware that the interest in this sector is increasing rapidly. Our existence in both micro and macro dimensions brings us closer to our goals. We relaxed those who want to proceed in the industry with our machines, which are completely focused on the challenging parts of the job such as kneading, spreading and baking.

You also attract attention with your products in the field of patisserie equipment. Could you give us information about your products in this field? There are many large and small businesses in the pastry business. Everyone's production style and variety is different. This is exactly where we step in. We support companies by offering machines according to the quantity, size and variety of the product they want to produce. The biggest difference between patisserie products and main bakery products is weight and fineness. We provide great convenience to businesses in this field. For example, while it takes great skill to roll dough for baklava, a flavor that is spreading rapidly around the world, our Baklawa Machine (Phillo) makes this job very easy. To summarize, we are in when it comes to the production of any product in which flour and water are mixed.

The Turkish bakery industry is having lively times. How do you evaluate this? In fact, the industry is quite lively. After the stagnation experienced in all sectors for a while at the beginning of the pandemic was over, the livelihood in the bakery sector has been noticed. It was noteworthy that bakers were doing business when many sectors were closed, and they called it livelihood. Although the customs procedures due to the pandemic were disrupted for a while, the transactions continued without slowing down until they were restored with mutual understanding. Customer support continued by taking all precautions within the country. I can say at least on behalf of our company with peace of mind that our industry has not experienced heavy challenges and has been demonstrating its accustomed livelihood. The bakery industry, which is the basis of the food industry, will always exist and will continue to be intense. Livelihood in a sector that meets basic needs will never end.

Can you tell us about the change in the bakery industry? We are an important building block of the industry, whose need rate is increasing day by day. Since our machines, which we offer to manufacturers who want to offer a high amount of products, meet the desired capacity, manufacturers adapt faster to the rapidly growing sector. Since bakery is a building block in every part of the world, the commercial perspective and need rate for bakery is quite high. The industry, which used to consist of a few main dealers in the past, has now started to expand its arms. It continues to expand without borders with more demand and more products.

Could you give some information about frozen products and your products for in-market bakery, the number of which has increased rapidly recently? Our Pastamatik products are more common within markets and attract the attention of owners of markets and small cafes thanks to their capacity and contribution to the interior decoration. We are happy with the interest of administrators and business owners, who like to serve fresh, to our products. Our machines, which are designed considering the interior architecture, offer efficiency and elegance to businesses with features such as color and design.

What would you recommend investors to invest in bakery products to pay attention to? We first recommend that investors proceed correctly and in a planned manner in their investments and take steps towards their goals. Their investment should be capable of meeting the sectoral needs. It will be beneficial for them to take advantage of the latest technology while establishing their production facilities. Because technology is developing rapidly. They need to pay attention to the workforce and efficiency of the machinery and equipment used. They shall always aim to take firm steps forward. We offer turnkey projects to investors in this regard. In other words, in line with the demands and needs of our customers, we can install the whole system that should be in an oven, from dough kneading machine to oven, dough resting machine, dough weighing, rolling, and bread cutting. As long as our customers tell us what they want to do and what their goal is.

What do you do about service and the after-sales process? Apart from your own brand, do you provide services to companies that have purchased products from foreign companies? In fact, we are always a firm lending assistance to its customers with its service and after-sales support. However, we cannot offer help to the companies about the products that are not purchased from us. If we try to help with a machine which we are not familiar with, we would be making a mistake.

Can you compare Turkish companies with their European competitors in terms of technology? At Altuntop, we use state-of-the-art production equipment. This makes us strong against our European competitors. Quality is the only comparison criterion following technology, and we are assertive within our documents that we are in very good condition in this criterion as well.

Where do you procure the raw material you use in production? In fact, it would not be correct to say that we procure from a single place, since we are completely quality and efficiency oriented. We are constantly researching and negotiating. We work with companies that offer the best quality for us. When we find a company that will provide higher quality raw materials than the company we work with, we head there and procure our raw material from them. We have both domestic and international supplies.

Can you give us information about the work of your R&D department? Incoming demands are being evaluated and tried to be processed very quickly. Our R&D team has been formed by experts and is a team that receives praise after each work. Thanks to their research, know-how and experience, they easily feel the pulse of the industry.

What is your target for the domestic market where you are growing very fast? Our biggest goal in the domestic field is to reach the point that makes people say Altuntop is the best in bakery. Almost all of the domestic market is satisfied with our company and our products. We continue to work day and night in order not to leave even a small point that we cannot reach within the borders of the country. It would not be an exaggeration to say that our teams travel all over the country every day.

Mr. Naji, finally, can you share your thoughts on foreign markets? Altuntop is one of the leading bakery machinery manufacturers in Turkey. Technology and quality are our top priorities as we are a company serving different markets all over the world. We export our equipment to nearly 100 countries. As I just mentioned, we are proceeding on our way with fast and confident steps by growing at home and abroad with our quality and technological power. We have factors that make us advantageous against our competitors abroad as well as at home. Being a well-established manufacturer, taking firm steps with employees who are experts in their business, our quality and our rapidly increasing customer portfolio give us great strength.