Belgium based bakery products company, La Lorraine admired the Turkish market. Believing in the potential of its factory in Turkey, which is the brand's first investment outside of the European continent, and satisfied with the successes, the company management is considering making new investments in the coming years.

Lisani Atasayan, who worked as a senior manager in the leading companies of the food industry for more than 20 years and was appointed as Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa General Manager for La Lorraine in May, gave his first interview to BBM Magazine, the international channel of the sector.

Stating that they have accomplished good works in Turkey in 7 years, the experienced manager underlined that all their plans are ready for 2022 and they have set an aggressive growth target. Lisani Atasayan, La Lorraine's Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa General Manager said that he is very hopeful for the upcoming period and noted that they will run with the principle of customer satisfaction and offer new and innovative products to consumers.

The answers given to the questions of BBM Magazine by the experienced manager of Belgian La Lorraine, Lisani Atasayan, who exports the special flavors of Turkey and has become the voluntary ambassador of Turkish cuisine, are as follows:

Hello Mr. Atasayan, thank you very much for accepting our interview request and for your time. First of all, congratulations on your new job. Can you tell us about yourself and your company?

I started my career in 1997 at Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) as a Financial Planning Analyst. After holding various senior management positions in different departments in the Company for more than 23 years, I worked as the General Manager of Coca-Cola İçecek Azerbaijan between 2011 and 2014, and then as the General Manager of Coca-Cola İçecek Turkey between 2014 and 2017. Lastly, after leading 5 countries as Coca-Cola İçecek Asia Region President, I became the General Manager of La Lorraine Turkey, Middle East and North Africa as of May 2021. 

La Lorraine is a Belgian company established 82 years ago. It first entered the Turkish market through import by Migros in 2014. Our factory was established in Manisa OIZ in 2016. Since our foundation, we have invested approximately 65 million Euros in this plant.

Today, we offer our La Lorraine products to our consumers at more than 1,200 Migros stores and over 10,000 points of sales with our 160 employees and a dealer network of 300 people across Turkey. 

As a company, your investments in Turkey have reached a certain level. What are your investment goals? Can you tell us about your short and long term investment goals? Which products do you consider to invest in?

La Lorraine has made the company's first investment outside of the European continent in Turkey. Our Headquarter in Belgium believes strongly in the Turkish market’s potential and in Turkey. In this context, large investments have been made in the past and we will continue further investments in the coming years. We see similar potential in other markets I am responsible for. We will invest in the right place and at the right time. Our first priority is to grow with the market potential in Turkey. As a company, we have been in Turkey for only 7 years, we have gained a good momentum in the last 7 years, we want to accelerate this even more. 

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you? What did you do when the industries most affected by the pandemic such as hotels, restaurants and cafes were closed? How did you support your customers? 

As in the entire world, the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on both our country and our company. During this period, our employees managed their work remotely when possible. In particular, our employees in the closed sales channels and in the Head Office devotedly and passionately supported their colleagues in the field in the open supermarkets by displaying great examples of teamwork.

We were in constant communication with our HORECA business partners by being there for them during their closure. When they reopened their doors, we gave our priority to HORECA customers and carried out stock management. During the pandemic, we tried to support our customers with favorable payment terms as much as possible.

La Lorraine introduces many Turkish flavors to the world. Different types of pastries and breads are exported across the world. Which are your biggest export markets as La Lorraine Turkey? Can you give us information about this issue? 

Today, we export the bread, savory snack and croissant varieties we produce in our factory to Europe and the Middle East. The taste and the quality of our products are highly appreciated in these regions. For example, we export our spinach and eggplant savory snacks as a local delicacy. At our Manisa factory, we now produce croissants which were previously imported to Turkey from Europe. As a result of our R&D efforts, we developed our cheese-filled croissant that suits Turkish taste. Thanks to these efforts, we developed the 'zahter-filled croissant' by using zahter, a very popular flavor in the Middle East, in croissants and now export it to these countries. Today we import donuts from Europe, our product development department develops donuts with flavors suitable for Turkish taste. 

As Turkey, our biggest export markets are Europe and the Middle East. Today, we export products we produce in our Manisa factory to 4 countries in Europe and 6 countries in the Middle East.

When we look at the bakery products category, we have products in many categories, but there are also categories we do not cover. Our company philosophy is to be the product leader in every aspect in the categories we are in, and in this regard, we are eager to invest in any category where we can be the product leader, if possible.

Can you share with us your thoughts and expectations about the frozen product market in the world and in Turkey? Frozen products are also offered as a solution to waste of bread. What are the advantages of your products concerning food waste?

We offer a pleasant experience with our products that do not contain any preservative additives, which you can consume fresh and hot in any amount you want at home or in supermarkets, cafes, hotels and similar channels. You can bake our products fresh and hot in 10-15 minutes, in the amount you need, when you need them, thus avoiding a great deal of waste.

In Turkey, approximately 85 million breads are produced daily and 6 million of this is wasted, which means 2 billion breads are wasted per year. But when you use La Lorraine’s fresh frozen products, you can bake the product, which will be wasted otherwise, freshly when needed. This means that you can consume every product fresh, and hot in a waste-free way.

What are your future plans? Are there any efforts to launch new products in the Turkish market or any Turkish products to be introduced to the world?

Since Turkey’s food and beverage culture is very rich, we see significant opportunities here. We may develop different local relevant products. For example, börek (a sort of pastry). Today, we export borek to Central Europe and Eastern Europe. They like our pastry very much. Most recently, we had borek with roasted eggplant filling. Roasting an eggplant is not a known cooking method in Europe. This is something unique to Turkey. We leverage these opportunities for our products.

As La Lorraine, we want to be in all categories we consider as feasible and expect to be the product leader. This, of course, depends on the time, its feasibility, and whether that category can meet the conditions we want. Our investments in Turkey will continue, as before.

What are your goals for Turkey and the market in Turkey's hinterland?

The company's first investment outside of Europe is in Turkey, and after Turkey secondly in Russia, which is a little to the east of Turkey. So, the company never hesitates to invest in countries with potential. In other words, La Lorraine is always open to investment, if it sees an opportunity or potential in any country in the world, including this geography.

Where do you get your raw material from? This year, there were serious harvest losses in wheat throughout the country due to drought. How do you see the increases in raw material prices caused by drought and pandemic? What precautions do you take against this?

We get all our raw materials from local producers. We see dramatic increases in all raw material prices due to the drought’s effects on wheat, the increase in exchange rates, and the supply problems in the world. Accordingly, we strive to hedge our raw material purchases as best as we can.

La Lorraine continues to invest heavily in Russia. When it is completed, how will the investment affect you? Could you also tell us the position of your company in the world flour food industry?

Our factory in Russia will be operational in Summer 2022. This factory will be La Lorraine’s second investment outside Europe after Turkey. The inauguration of this factory will not change much for us, because the Russian market currently buys a large part of its products from Eastern Europe due to advantages in logistics prices. Our factory in Russia will be providing products locally to the consumers. 

Mr. Atasayan, is there anything else you would like to add or share with our readers?

I can say that we are getting ready for the next period. Our 2022 plans are already made. We have set ourselves an aggressive growth target and we are confident to achieve that. In line with our product leadership strategy, we will introduce brand new innovative products to our customers. We will continue to focus on customer satisfaction. Actually, I am very positive for the upcoming period.