MULTIVAC Turkey Managing Director Ali Suat Öz explained the latest news in the MULTIVAC world and the new period starting with FRITSCH ahead of IBAKTECH 2020 Exhibition to be held in Istanbul on 26-29 March.

Mr. Öz, with the acquisition of FRITSCH, we observe that MULTIVAC GROUP continues its strategic investments. Could you tell us about the recent developments in MULTIVAC? As one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging and process solutions, MULTIVAC continues its operations and investments successfully in more than 140 countries with approximately 6.400 employees. We continue to expand our labeling, inspection, processing, slicing, portioning and automation solutions strategically for the stages before and after the packaging process with thermoforming packaging machines, traysealers and vacuum machines. In this direction, Germany-based FRITSCH Bakery Technologies GmbH & Co. KG, one of the world's leading bakery products and dough processing machinery and line manufacturers entered under the roof of MULTIVAC Group as of August 1, 2019. With this acquisition, FRITSCH has become a part of a strong company like MULTIVAC, which has proven itself in the global arena. FRITSCH will continue to work in cooperation with its customers and suppliers, where it is very close to its usual reliability. The acquisition of FRITSCH is a crucial step in expanding our range of integrated solutions for food processing and packaging. With this acquisition, we have further expanded our range of solutions for the bakery and dough processing industry. Thanks to the processing solutions of FRITSCH, we will continue to expand our presence in the bakery products sector, in which we have implemented very challenging projects for integrated automated packaging solutions, in our country and global markets.

The combination of FRITSCH's expertise in dough processing lines and MULTIVAC's leadership in integrated packaging and process solutions seems to be a very interesting collaboration for investors in the bakery industry. Can we get your thoughts on this subject? I can say that FRITSCH and MULTIVAC have a lot in common with their leading positions in the global markets, their superior competencies and experiences, high-tech solutions and the quality-oriented consultancy and service understanding. The FRITSCH brand is highly regarded worldwide both by small, medium-sized businesses and industrial-scale manufacturers with its high-quality machinery and lines. FRITSCH produces first-class products with its expertise in dough processing lines and has superior engineering capabilities. In addition to this capability, it uses its technical and technological expertise to develop customized solutions. Thanks to its leadership in robot technology, it is able to offer all kinds of folding and bending solutions at the highest speed. This technology, of which automation degree is being increased constantly, creates a unique added value in the industry. It distinguishes itself from its competitors with its revolutionary innovative solutions such as the revolutionary Multitwist pretzel machine that can produce any kind of bakery product made with a single knit or Impressa croissant machine with its unique cutting and turning unit (CCT) and bending unit (CBS). Thanks to its more than 90 years of experience in the market, FRITSCH is a company that knows the challenges that the customers frequently encounter in their daily business and can offer various customized solutions to easily overcome them. These customized exclusive designs can be tested at the FRITSCH Technology Center with any combination needed in the actual production environment. Thanks to the integration of FRITSCH's innovative, highly efficient products, which are able to overcome the various challenges faced by businesses of different scales and "customizable" to MULTIVAC's line solutions, we foresee great potential in this market for the future. By realizing this potential, we plan to create added value for our customers, which we regard as our business partners.

Could you briefly mention the solution portfolio of MULTIVAC towards the processing and packaging "Bakery products and baked goods"? In the bakery products and baked goods, we have integrated processing and packaging solutions for different types of bread, flatbread, Ramadan pita, pizza, croissants with and without filling, Danish whirls, luscious donuts also traditional products such as simit and other coiled or twisted products. With the acquisition of FRITSCH, we can offer to our customers both the introductory dough sheeter and cutting machines such as Rollfix for bakery products and dough processing and the advanced solutions such as Euroline, Multicut, Multiline, Easyline, CTR and Laminator 300 for for different needs such as cutting, turning, and bending, which can offer flexible working in a wide range of products with a variety of filled or unfilled products. As for the industrial scales, we can offer our Impressa and Laminator 3000 models that can meet the same needs at very high capacities. In addition to these solutions, we can establish integrated lines from a single source with our automation solutions that can be applied to labeling, weighing, inspection, and the entire process before and after packaging. In the only packaging department, we recommend our Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) solutions aiming to keep the oxygen content in the package at the minimum level for keeping the shelf life of baked foods long, which is a significant expectation of our customers. In line with the needs and expectations of our customers, we can offer our MAP solutions in our thermoforming packaging machines and traysealers in different performance ranges in our our portfolio. We have realized many reference projects in this field with our customers. You can get detailed information from us about our references in Turkey, who are the leading manufacturers of the industry they are in.

You will attend the IBAKTECH Fair, which will be held in Istanbul CNR EXPO Exhibition Center on 26-29 March 2020, with your booth. Can we get your comments about the fair briefly? First of all, we will be pleased to host all our visitors at our stand in Hall 1 in the German Pavilion in this fair, where 341 companies from 11 countries attend with their booths and which hosts approximately 81,300 visitors. As you know, thanks to the business volume it created, IBAKTECH International Trade Fair For Bakery, Patisserie Machinery, Ice Cream, Chocolate and Technologies is the most important event of the sector in the growing Turkish market and throughout the entire Eurasian region. FRITSCH will meet its visitors for the first time in this fair in our country after being acquired by MULTIVAC. In this respect, the fair is of special importance for us. Our visitors will be able to find answers to all questions regarding FRULTSCH's solutions in the bakery and dough processing industry and MULTIVAC's packaging and process solutions for the same industry. By visiting our stand, you can learn about our portfolio of most suitable and innovative solutions for small, medium and industrial scale bakery producers meeting the most challenging requirements mostly demanded in our country such as flexible lines, short changeover times and hygienic design requirements.