Always on the lookout for sustainable cooperation

The success of Koç Vleeswaren is due to the great enthusiasm of the Gürcüoğlu brothers, says director Hikmet Gürcüoğlu. This enables the company to make the finest product, production technology and market approach. 

Family business Koç Vleeswaren has been supplying the European market with original Turkish products from Anatolia for 41 years. Main products are sucuk (say soedjoek; a dry, spiced sausage), pastirma (dried meat with a herbal coating) and kavurma (roasted beef). More than 90% of the production goes abroad. The largest market is Germany, but the sausage is also exported to the Middle East and Central Asia. "Last week an order went to Mongolia," says Hikmet Gürcüoğlu. 

History

The Gürcüoğlu family is a family of butchers. The company started in 1978 as Islamic Butcher's shop Istanbul, the first halal butcher with a sausage factory in The Hague. Two years later, Hikmet joined the family business as a third brother, who had just graduated from the TU in Delft. In 1991 Koç Vleeswaren focused on the production of meat products in an EC-approved building on an industrial estate in Zoetermeer. The company grew considerably and moved to new premises in Zoeterwoude, equipped with high-quality production equipment, a modern production environment and with all the necessary certificates with regard to food safety, quality assurance and halal. Every day dozens of tons of sucuk go out the door. Most of these products are sold under private label in stores. This means that the manufacturer is invisible on the shelves, but is clearly visible as an important party for the supply industry. 

Niche 

The market for Turkish sausages is a niche, but large enough and growing. "Our customers have been focusing on the broader, ethnic market for several years now. Some of our customers inform consumers exclusively in the local language, for example German, from declaration to preparation." The location helps with this development. "Made in Holland on the label and produced by a Muslim producer, that gives halal consumers confidence." 

Standardization

In order to succeed in the private label market, as a manufacturer you have to contribute to the success of your customer. Koç Vleeswaren does this by delivering and innovating constant high quality. This means that the important players in the retail market are convinced of the added value. As far as quality control is concerned, standardisation is of paramount importance. Throughout the entire production process, they use measurement and control technology to guarantee food safety and quality control. Starting with determining the composition of the meat with photometry, in-line moisture, protein and fat content measurements, temperature control from start to finish, metal detection, label control, in-line leak detection, etc." 

Photo: Wesley Pieterse (l) and Hikmet Gürcüoğlu

Collaboration

Up to the development of machines, the company works closely with machine manufacturers to improve processes. Koç Vleeswaren invests heavily in the automation of the production process. Despite the growth, production still takes place with a limited number of people. Repak, manufacturer of thermoformed packaging machines in Emmen, has been called in to optimise the packaging process. With around 130 employees, Repak is also a family business and is strongly committed to quality. Koç Vleeswaren's packaging hall houses four of the company's machines. The latest machine doubled the output compared to its predecessor, the number of people on the machine remained the same. Repak has been a supplier since the late 1980s. 

"We are always looking for sustainable cooperation. We attach great importance to this," says Hikmet. "For me, the basis and condition for this is enthusiasm. I can see this very clearly at Repak. It is an urge to develop better and better, to serve the customer better. The machines we have in stock are seen by the Repak employees as their own. If there's anything wrong with them, they go even faster than we do."  

Best packaging

"This is a healthy mentality", says Benelux manager of Repak Wesley Pieterse: "Our employees feel involved and do not leave quickly. Our people visit the customer for years and know the people and the company well, this is an important strength." The confidence in the supplier is great. The contract says nothing about guaranteed uptime. It is a collaboration that is proving its worth, as evidenced by its success in the market. "The quality was recently confirmed by experts, when a group of packaging experts at the Process Expo in Chicago proclaimed a packaging produced by Koç Vleeswaren on our machine as the best."

Koç Vleeswaren has new plans. Hikmet Gürcüoğlu and his family are facing an important decision. Is the company taking a leap, or does it continue to favour step-by-step growth? He calls himself cautious, but he also knows that the family has proven to be able to make big steps before.

www.kocvleeswaren.nl
www.repak.nl