Sarten Ambalaj prepares for packaging plants in the Netherlands, Africa

The packaging industry is the sector most recently favored by foreign companies. From Austria’s Greiner and South Africa’s Mondi to the US’ International Paper and Germany’s Treofan, international brands have developed an intense interest in investing in Turkey.

In addition to these giants acquiring and cooperating with Turkish companies, local companies are also growing up in the region and preparing for global journeys. Among these, Sarten Ambalaj is the most noticeable. Sarten Chairman Zeki Saribekir said the company was founded in 1972 to produce edible oil packs in Corlu and in 1975 started working with mineral oil companies such as Mobil, BP, Shell and Petrol Ofisi. In 1996, a factory was established in both Karacabey and Manisa to produce food boxes. Sarten’s manufacturing empire has since grown to 17 factories in eight locations. “We have a factory in Russia that manufactures cosmetics and a food box factory in Bulgaria,” Saribekir said. “We will add two more factories to our operations abroad. The first will be in the Netherlands, which will start production soon.”

Saribekir stated that after noticing the potential in Russia when Sarten first conducted business in the country, it decided to build a plant there instead of exporting products. That has since become a large factory employing 100 people. Indicating that the company is going through the same process in the Netherlands, Saribekir said: “A leading global company demanded a product from us. We have been sending 80 million boxes of products to the Netherlands in 800 containers, which made transportation costly. So, we decided to set up a factory there instead of shipping from Istanbul.” Initially, the plant will cater for 50 employees before gradually increasing alongside production capacity.

Exporting $85 million worth of products annually to 80 countries, Sarten has warehouses and companies in Serbia, Romania and Greece. “Our initial goal is to be a regional company and we are about to achieve this,” he said, reiterating the company’s success in Europe. “Then we will have to work to become global. That is why we are focusing on the African market,” he added. “We have started work on establishing a plant in a country in North Africa. As the economy develops, the packaging sector grows, so the potential is high.” Sarten has almost 1,000 clients, many of them international companies. In its first foray into the packaging sector, Mitsui, one of Japan’s largest companies, became a small shareholder in Sarten three years ago. Saribekir said Sarten benefits from its partnerships in 200 countries and acts together in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. “It is a great contribution for us to work with them for our global journey,” he said. According to Saribekir, per capita packaging consumption in Turkey has risen from $100 to $200 in the past 10 years. Corresponding figures are about $350400 in Europe, $500 in America and $550-600 in Japan. These amounts provide a neat financial explanation for the potential and current foreign interest in Turkey.