Amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, 5 Turkish delight producers who joined forces to overcome the downturn in production are now sweetening palates in 10 countries.
Established on a 4,000 square meter site in the Kartepe district, the company continues the production of Turkish delight, known as the “palace dessert” from the Ottoman period.
With 58 employees, the company produces 15 varieties of Turkish delight, including vanilla, cocoa, pomegranate, mint, rosemary, coffee, rose-flavored, orange-flavored, pistachio, hazelnut, and chocolate-coated, and distributes its products to both domestic and international markets.
Producing 2.5 tons of Turkish delight daily, the company aims to increase the number of countries to which it exports.
“Revised orders from abroad arrive within 1 month” Uğurcan Üçcan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Izmit Turkish Delight Inc., told AA that his father has been engaged in Turkish delight production since 1974, and he himself has continued the family profession for years.
Üçcan stated that they formed an alliance during the pandemic period to overcome the difficulties and have been operating under the company they established 3 years ago.
“We merged the companies and then merged the brands. Izmit Turkish Delight began to have its own brand,” said Üçcan, emphasizing the success of their initiative and the establishment of a good production chain.
Üçcan explained that they have improved the quality of Izmit Turkish Delight to a good level and received positive feedback from both domestic and international sources.
This year, they exported to Macedonia for the first time, Üçcan said.
“Our exports abroad have increased. This year we reached 10 countries. Our latest export was to Germany. Next week, we will export to Macedonia. We also send to England, the Netherlands, and Russia. Revised orders from abroad arrive within 1 month. We have created a new roadmap to highlight our name both in Turkey and in other countries by opening new places in important locations in Turkey as Izmit Turkish Delight Inc. We have advantages of coming together. We are currently in a new restructuring process. We have started to take steps towards institutionalization again. We will do our best to bring Izmit Turkish Delight Inc. to different places and make it grow.”
“We continue production with retired masters” Üçcan pointed out that demand for Turkish delight decreases in the first 10 days of Ramadan every year and increases towards Eid, stating that they continue production for Eid, preparing stock.
Mentioning the personnel shortage in the sector, Üçcan said, “The youth of Izmit are not inclined to this job. That’s why we can’t train masters. We still continue with our retired masters; we don’t have new masters coming up. This also hinders us. We try to find through ISKUR. Courses on Turkish delight production are opened in apprentice schools. People from Izmit don’t eat Turkish delight much, but they take it as a gift everywhere. When an Izmit resident goes out of town, people look at their hands to see if they brought Turkish delight. Demand is very high. Due to the lack of personnel, we deliver orders 10-15 days late. If we could complete the personnel support, we could increase production to 3.5-4 tons and employ 30-35 more people.”
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç