Over half century adventure of taste; Berberoğlu Milk

Can we know you?

I was born in 1980 in the Araplar neighborhood of Konya's Karatay district. I finished my primary school education in Hazım Uuşahin, my secondary and high school education in Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu Anatolian Imam Hatip High School. I completed my university education in Dumlupınar University Business Administration Department. I am doing my master's degree in foreign trade and logistics at Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey University. I am married, I have 3 children, 1 girl and 2 boys. We work by adding our night to our day. Since we know that we have a responsibility for the city where we were born and grew up, we try not to stay away from them. I have the duty of a Council Member in Karatay Municipality. as well as representative office in Konya, Turkey Football Federation I represent. We also have duties in various NGOs. Alhamdulillah we are at work.

Could you give information about your company?

Our Berberoğlu Süt company is a family business. It was founded in 1965 by our late grandfather Mehmet Rıza Özsakal, whose name I also took, under very difficult conditions. After 1985, my father Ali Rıza Özsakal and my uncle took over as the second generation. They have brought it to a certain extent. Later, we took over it with my brothers as the third generation.

Can you tell us about the establishment of your company?

Our grandfather, Mehmet Rıza Özsakal, worked as a barber on the Mevlana Tomb route until 1965 before doing this job. He was one of the most famous barbers of those times. He closed it with a courage and switched to dairy farming. He was known as Berber Mehmet in his profession. At that time, people in Konya were mainly known by nicknames. His colleagues also called my grandfather Berber Mehmet. Our grandfather was one of the two best sheep cheese producers of that period. It was very welcome that he had the courage to quit the barber and do dairy business and was very successful in this business. Since there was no incorporation at that time, our company was called Özsakal Süt Mamulleri at the time of our grandfather.

Can you tell us about your incorporation process?

During my father's period, our company entered the process of incorporation. While conducting consultations on the brand, they decided to name Berberoğlu because they are the sons of Berber Mehmet. The brand journey took place in this way. At first, the word barber could not be associated with dairy business, but later on, it was accepted by everyone with this quality. Currently, we are proud of our name as a national brand.

Who are in your company management?

Although our father is in the experience office, we have now undertaken the management of all businesses as 3 brothers. Our father let us go in our education period and career choice. My brothers Mustafa, Cüneyt Bey and I completed our trainings in different departments. In our childhood, we used to go to our father and work with him on weekends, semesters and summer holidays. I did not like production, but I went out to market with my uncle. That's why I specialized in this field and I'm responsible for the marketing department of our company. My brother Mustafa Bey also liked production very much. The biggest handicap of our jobs is master dependency. When you become addicted to a master, he or she can let you down. My brother also loved production, so he developed and became a master in that field. Currently the area is one of the few people in Turkey. Cüneyt Bey is also successful in money. He also represents our company in terms of purchasing and finance.

How has your company managed to survive for more than half a century?

Firms in Turkey, unfortunately, can not be long-lasting. After the first generation, it is rarely passed on to the second generation. However, high rates of dispersal are observed with the penalty of transition to the third generation. We also consulted this to get the family manager out. My graduation thesis at university was also about institutionalization models in family businesses. I focused on him. After college, I applied the model dream here. We decided to establish a family constitution, where we took charge with my siblings. Thus, everyone's duties and responsibilities became clear. Even if we consult one of us on every issue, nobody gets involved in anyone's business. Everyone is responsible person in their field. This modeling is also one of the most important factors that bring success. When a person focuses on one place, he produces better results. One of us focuses on sales, the other on the financial channel.

Could you give information about the production of your company?

Our company currently focuses on a single product and produces only cheddar cheese and its derivatives. The reason is; After the three brothers took over the business, we had a group of white cheese, cheddar cheese, yogurt group, butter group etc. and we decided that a large number of them were wrong. We had to make an important decision to get ahead of our competitors. We predicted that we will be successful when we concentrate our production on one field, just as we were successful when we specialized in one job. Thus, we got very efficient results. Currently we have been manufacturing leading the cheese of frozen pizza in Turkey. We also meet the pizza cheddar of 80 percent of all frozen pizza brands.

What is the difference between cheddar cheese and toasted cheese on the market?

A few years ago, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a communiqué. In this direction, we divided the production of cheddar cheese into two. First one; It is an old juicy boiled cheese. Cheese is produced by boiling in water. Thus, approximately 12 kilograms of product is obtained. The second is cheddar cheese made with melted salts. It is not like regular cheddar. It has less flavor. It was said, let's name one of them melted cheese and the other as cheddar cheese. The name toast cheese is also used for melted cheese. Thus, the distinction is determined and pricing is made accordingly.

What are your production channels as Berberoğlu Süt?

We work with two different channels, industrial channel and retail channel. As we have been making cheese pizza Turkey's considerable brand we have already seen in the industrial channel. In the retail channel of one of Turkey's leading cheese brand's third store chains belonging to resell them that we have been manufacturing the. Our brand is also included in the packages as a manufacturer brand. Again, we are producing the cheese in a sandwich of Turkey's leading brands. all military operations in Turkey; Our company produces sandwiches used in operations such as Olive Branch and Barış Pınarı. We mainly work with Middle Eastern countries abroad. We plan to work with countries such as Russia and China in the upcoming period.

Can you tell us about your new factory?

Recently, the construction of our new facility was completed and we switched to or. Our previous facility had a milk processing capacity of 100 tons and was working fully. Our field is not enough. Later, we moved to Çumra Organized Industrial Zone. There is an open area of ​​24 thousand square meters here. It is in the form of two stages. The first phase has been completed and it has a closed area of ​​7500 square meters. We had a factory built with artificial intelligence here. We invested in technology. We established one of Turkey's factory. We are not a closed firm and it comes constantly. We get very good comments from the veterans of our profession. Our daily milk processing capacity is 500 tons at first. When the second stage exam is completed in the second half of 2021, our area of ​​7500 square meters will be put into service. We will be a company with a total indoor area of ​​15000 square meters and a daily milk work of 1000 tons. We are happy to bring such a facility to the region.
 

HÜSEYİN KOYUNCUOĞLU / YENİ HABER