NEWS FROM FORBES BY ÖZER TURAN: "Youth Vaccine"

NEWS FROM FORBES BY ÖZER TURAN: "YOUTH VACCINE"

• 07.10.2016

Eren Günhan Ulusoy increased the turnover of Ulusoy Un, the family company he took over 13 years ago when he was just 23 years old, from 50 million liras to over 1 billion liras. His goal in the next ten years is to create Turkey's largest agro-industrial company.

When Eren Günhan Ulusoy graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Business Administration in 2003, it was not yet among his plans to head the family business. He intended to extend his pleasant student years for at least a few more years by going abroad for his master's degree. However, there was a very familiar scenario he had to live through: The factory father was dreaming that his son, who was studying business administration, would take over the family business and expand the business... It happened as he wanted. Eren Günhan Ulusoy found himself at the head of the family company Ulusoy Un the year he graduated with the fait accompli of his father Fahrettin Ulusoy. This was the beginning of the process in which Ulusoy Un, which was a 15-year regional company with a turnover of 50 million lira at that time, would evolve into a national company with an Inc.an turnover of 1 billion liras.

This year is a milestone for Ulusoy Un. The family, which bought and renovated a factory in Tekirdağ/Çorlu in 2003, overcame an important obstacle. Eren Günhan Ulusoy says that they sold 25% of their production to Marmara at that time. Moreover, 20% of the wheat used is bought from Thrace. The factory with a daily capacity of 400 tons in Tekirdağ significantly reduces the logistics costs of the company. However, the main effect is on the export side. Ulusoylar, which has the opportunity to make shipments through Ambarlı Port, begins a rapid export move to Africa, the Middle East and Far East Asia.

The export period, which lasted for several years, creates a new business idea for Eren Günhan Ulusoy. Ulusoy, who started the international wheat trade in 2007 and rolled the first snowball, which enabled the company's turnover to grow exponentially, "I saw that they supplied all the wheat they needed while exporting flour to the Far East countries from India and Australia." says. On top of that, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are creating an important alternative by marketing their wheat in the region.

The privatization of Samsun Port in 2010 is one of the factors that exploded Ulusoy Un's trade volume. The reason for this is that Ceynak Group, which won the tender, opened a container line in Samsun with an investment of 50 million dollars. Ulusoy said, "If the container port had not been opened here, we would have built the factory we built in Samsun in Çorlu today." says.

While developing the corporate structure of the rapidly growing company, Eren Günhan Ulusoy understands that on one side of his mind is to open the company to the stock market in the future. However, the IPO process is developing faster than planned. 27 percent of Ulusoy Un (this rate decreased to 23 percent with buybacks) within the scope of the "Public Offering Mobilization" initiated after 2011 with the initiative of Borsa Istanbul, CMB and TOBB to increase the number of companies traded on the stock exchange. is offered to the public.

Ulusoy Un brand is not a well-known brand among consumers. Because they sell all of their production to corporate companies that produce large bread and biscuits. Branding and going down to retail may increase the profit margin of the company, but Eren Günhan Ulusoy says that there is still time. Because there is a new field of activity that Ulusoy prioritizes: licensed warehousing. Ulusoy, who said that they will grow in licensed warehousing, is continuing the construction of a warehouse with a capacity of 40 thousand tons in Çorum Alaca, in addition to its warehouse with a capacity of 60 thousand tons in Samsun. Also, in the next stage, they plan to increase their total capacity to 200 thousand tons by investing in a warehouse with a capacity of 100 thousand tons in Samsun.

Eren Günhan Ulusoy, 36, proved himself by increasing the turnover of the family business from 50 million liras to over 1 billion liras in just 13 years. This success may take the goal of creating Turkey's largest agro-industrial company in the next 10 years beyond being boastful.

You can read the full article in the October issue of Forbes Turkey.