Established by seven women in 2019 with the initiative of the Ministry of Commerce, the Erzurum Women’s Cooperative procures regional products produced by women from many provinces in addition to the city, contributing to production and the economy.
The regional products produced by women in rural areas are offered for sale through a store allocated by Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Sekmen and e-commerce.
The Erzurum Women’s Cooperative signed a protocol with the organic, regional products enterprise operating in Kilimli Neighborhood of Narman district.
With the protocol, 24 types of products such as butter, cheese, honey, and rosehip extract produced in the rural neighborhood will be marketed nationwide through the Erzurum Women’s Cooperative.
“We wanted to set an example for many commercial enterprises with commercial collaboration.”
Zeynep Polat, Chairperson of the Cooperative’s Board of Directors, told AA correspondent that their company’s first and only sales office is cooperatives.
Polat stated that the signed protocol has expanded the cooperative’s product portfolio, saying, “With this commercial collaboration, we aimed to set an example for many commercial enterprises, increase women’s solidarity and employment, promote our products nationally and internationally in physical and digital platforms, improve the quality of our existing products, and expand our product portfolio. Most importantly, this protocol is a social and economic development project in local and regional terms. Currently, our product portfolio with our company has exceeded 50.”
Company executive Ömer Karahan explained that they had previously only sold their products online and with the protocol, they now have a kind of shop.
Stating that their products are natural and organic, Karahan noted:
“Our customers in the city center used to ask, ‘Where can we reach you?’ Our neighborhood is 110 kilometers away from the center. People couldn’t come to the village for shopping. When we sent to the center, we had to charge shipping fees. Our customers were saying, ‘If you open a business in the center, we wouldn’t have to pay shipping fees, or we could come, taste, see and buy it ourselves.’ Thanks to Mrs. Zeynep, she contacted us. She suggested, ‘What if your products were also available in the women’s cooperative?’ We signed a contract, and now our products are available in the Erzurum Women’s Cooperative store in the city center. We will produce and bring fresh products every week. We have about 23-24 types of products on average.”
source: aa.com.tr / prepared by Melisa Beğiç