You founded your business in 1998. What did your company look like back then and how has it grown since?
In 1998, we started with just one production line in an 8000-square-metre factory. We had three sets of moulds with a total of 48 cavities. Today, we have six injection mould production lines with 10 sets of moulds (with 96 and 128 cavities) operating in a 35,000-square-metre facility, and we also have an 18,000-square-metre factory in Jordan with six production lines and 12 sets of moulds (with 96 and 128 cavities).
We began investing to increase our production capacity in 2005. That’s when we started working with a mould manufacturer from Switzerland called OHAG, Otto Hofstetter AG. We also made a big investment in our flexible packaging production in 2015, about 30 million euros. All of our extrusion and printing equipment is from a well-known German machine supplier. Our laminating and production machines come from Italy and our slitting machines are German. Today, we produce packaging for food products like crisps, pasta, yeast, sauces, coffee and tea, and for non-food products like nappies, wet wipes, detergents and household paper products. And, of course, we make PET preform bottles for water, carbonated drinks and edible oil. Today, after all our growth and investments, we have around 250 employees in Turkey and another 50 in Jordan.
What were your biggest challenges in achieving this significant growth?
We always targeted increasing our production capacity and selling our products to different markets and regions. Of course, our markets have been disrupted by various crises from time to time, but we have come out of them stronger and more confident. Whatever we produce and wherever we sell it, there will be always competition. We choose to compete by maintaining our high levels of reliability, product quality and after-sales service for our customers, and this approach has worked well for us. It’s our experience that when our clients win, we win too.
Sunpet makes packaging for food and non-food products, and you make performs. What’s the breakdown of production volume between the areas?
Here in Turkey, 50 % of our OHAG preforms are for carbonated soft drink (CSD) products, 45 % are for water and 5 % for edible oils. In Jordan, our OHAG preforms are 60 % CSD and 40 % water. In both locations, there are strong seasonal fluctuations in demand, so production flexibility is an important factor for us. Our moulds from Otto Hofstetter help us efficiently manage these shifts in the production mix throughout the year.
You have said your goal is to become one of the leading companies in the industry. Where do you stand today?
I never targeted having the biggest production capacity. My aim has always been to sell high quality products. We believe, and our experience confirms this, that if we produce good products, our customers will pay a fair price for them. But to answer your question, we are currently the third- or fourth-biggest preform producer in Turkey and the biggest in Jordan.
Continuity is one of your company’s core values, one that is highly valued in today’s business world. How do you ensure your continuity?
All of our mould system operators, our managers and our quality team have been with us since we started 23 years ago in Turkey and 10 years ago in Jordan. All of our operators are highly trained and very experienced, so we can ensure steady production even when challenges arise.
You have many well-known brands on your client list. Why do you think they choose to partner with you?
I think our excellent relations with the big brands is based on our simple approach to business. We always keep our promises to our customers, whether they are big or small. We deliver good quality products on time. The big brands know they can rely on us and the smaller companies also trust us to deliver what we promise. That formula has been working for us for a long time now and we intend to keep it going.
Sunpet strives for continuous improvement in quality, efficiency and profitability. What actions are you taking to achieve these goals?
We follow the changing needs of the market and invest accordingly. We do not wait for our customers to knock on a competitor’s door just because they need one product that we don’t make. In other words, we always strive to satisfy the complete SKU needs of our customers. Another big competitive advantage we enjoy comes our financial strength. This means, for example, that when we think the time is right to buy raw materials, we purchase enough supplies for five or six months of production. In this way, we keep our costs down and we are able to supply a wide range of PET preforms at very competitive prices. This helps us and our customers to be more profitable. A classic win-win outcome.
Your plant is in Gaziantep, in south-central Turkey, near the Syrian border. How has your location influenced your expansion into Jordan?
We have been exporting to countries in the Middle East since 2005. In 2009, some countries in the region increased their customs duties on Turkish-origin preforms. In response, we decided not to exit this market and abandon our customers. Instead, we invested in our second preform factory, in Jordan, in operation since 2010.
You have set high standards for quality and technology. How do you find the necessary skilled workers for your factories?
We hired two very experienced technicians in 1998 and, since then, we have trained all our operators ourselves. This way, they are all trained to meet our standards and follow our established practices. And, more than that, they are introduced to our culture as a company. We like this approach to bringing in new staff. It’s difficult to change someone’s habits and routines that may not match our own. That’s why we prefer to train our technicians ourselves.
Sustainability is a priority for your company. You have stated that you aim to have 50% of your packaging recyclable by 2023. What is the motivation to achieve this ambitious target?
Sustainability is no longer just a trend or a fashion. I think we all see now that we have to make a big effort to protect the natural environment. And as a plastics manufacturer, we recognise that, if we don’t come up with solutions, then governments and regulators will step in and that will probably be unhelpful for our business. So, for us, sustainability is a challenge that we accept. In this effort, we will, for example, use recycled PET resin for some of our production. We are also working on projects to use scrap from preforms and bottles to be converted into different products. It’s the future of our industry and we want to lead here, too.
Sunpet regularly plants trees. Where do they do this?
We own property in various locations. We plant trees on our land every year. We have also been generating some of our energy ourselves. We have invested in a solar energy system, with an array of panels on the roof of our factory in Turkey that has the capacity of 4500 kW/h.
Your many certificates confirm Sunpet’s high quality standards. What concrete actions do you take to ensure quality on a day-to-day basis?
We have BRGS and ISO quality management certificates in Turkey and in Jordan. To be able to increase the quality of our products and services, qualifying for these certificates is a very important goal for us.
To what extent do your high quality standards play a role in your choice of moulds?
First of all, it’s a basic fact that the moulds we use must be high quality. They should be manufactured to the proper tolerances and they must be delivered and put in service on time. With these expectations in mind, we have repeatedly chosen OHAG as our partner for PET preform injection moulds. Of course, I have to say that OHAG’s sales and after-sales teams and Mr Hofstetter himself have always been extremely helpful and friendly. With OHAG, we feel like we are at home.
What other arguments are there in favour of the Swiss manufacturer’s products?
Markets are always changing, and meeting the demand for new products is how we secure the future of our business. With Otto Hofstetter, we have a valued partner in developing and enlarging our product portfolio. It’s very helpful for us to have a good relationship with our injection mould supplier. And Otto Hofstetter’s after-sales support in areas like process optimisation and on-site training is a real plus for us. Finally, the easy, uncomplicated contact we have with Otto Hofstetter’s sales team, technicians and the management makes doing business with them a pleasure. If we need something, we know we can just pick up the phone and a helpful answer will soon follow.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for your company over the next 5 to 10 years?
As I said, markets change. Ours too, and quickly. Consumers’ behaviour changes and so do their activities. We have to foresee these changes and be ready to offer our clients the products they need. Today, we’re sure about one thing: in the future, flexible production capabilities will be important. And we need to plan our investments accordingly, taking care to give ourselves the capacity and the flexibility that we will need as we grow.
What kind of support do you expect from Otto Hofstetter on this journey?
Otto Hofstetter’s deep technical knowledge is a valuable resource for us as we look to develop and expand our current production capacities. We can benefit from their know-how, but we can also benefit from their ingenuity. They seem to like challenges, and that’s an attitude we appreciate as we look for ways to meet changing market demands.
In order to secure its long-term future, what are the main challenges the plastics packaging industry needs to solve?
I know this is a word that we’re all hearing every day, more and more, but sustainability, and how we in the plastics packaging industry achieve it, are the twin challenges we face. I see two aspects to this challenge. One, we will surely be seeing more alternative packaging products trying to enter the market in the coming years. Whether plant-based or something else, there will be strong, serious efforts to displace plastic packaging. Some of these alternatives may prove viable, others not. But we have to be ready. We have to be able to point out the many advantages of plastic packaging in terms of product safety, stability and durability, for example. And this leads to the second part of the sustainability challenge. We have to improve our recycling efforts, from manufacturers like Sunpet all the way to the end consumers. And I’m convinced we can do this. Indeed, we must do this. It’s an exciting time to be in this business and to be part of the solution to this important challenge!
Mr Tataroğlu, thank you very much for your time and for your thoughtful answers.
