Market
The Turkish market for biscuits, snacks and
chocolate products, one of the most fiercely
competitive local markets, reached a turnover of
US$1.270 billion in 2004 grown 7% a year
between 2002 and 2004, the annual
consumption of products in this sector reached
266,000 tons. The AC Nielsen Retail Panel
calculates that 71% of total consumption in this
market is in the biscuits and snacks segment.
Additionally, Turkey holds 5% of the
international biscuits and snacks export market.
As one of the major players in the Turkish
market, Eti has been active in the biscuits and
snacks segment since 1961 and the company holds
its position as second in the market, taking a 32%
market share in 2004. Eti is also active in the fastest
growing sub-segments of the biscuits and snacks
market – the health products (rolled oats and
wholemeal products), low-calorie products (light
cakes, biscuits, crackers and breadsticks) and
cake sub-segments. It has gained and maintained
market leadership in these sub-segments with
shares of 85%, 56% and 50%, respectively.
(Source: AC Nielsen Retail Panel, 2004 Turkey.)
Despite entering this market only as recently
as 2003, Eti has attained a 7% share of the chocolate
and chocolate-covered segment, according to
the AC Nielsen Retail Panel. The company’s
2004 profit from the segment places it third.
Achievements
Every brand wants to lead its sector and have
consumers identify it with that sector. As a
forerunning in the sector with 45 years experience,
50% of consumers in a recent survey identified
Eti as the brand that comes to mind whenever
biscuits are mentioned. Consumers also identified
Eti with the phrase ‘pleasure-taste, expert
knowledge and biscuits’ in the biscuits and snacks
market and 43% of consumers identified Eti as
‘the cake expert’. The Eti Image Research project,
conducted by TNS Piar in 2004-2005, shows
that Eti holds second place in the minds of
consumers when it comes to chocolate products,
despite only entering this market in 2003.
Eti has consistently pioneered products in the
Turkish market over its 45 years of business.
Among the company firsts in the local market
are: the first high-fibre biscuit, Burçak; the first
packed cake; the first packed pie; the first packed
toast, Etimek; the first baby biscuit, Cicibebe; the
first packed moist cake, Browni Gold; and Pronot,
the first gluten-free biscuit, which is especially
produced for patients with defective digestion
and Phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare hereditary
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SUPERBRANDS
condition in which the amino
acid phenylalanine is not
properly metabolized and
which can lead to severe
mental retardation if not
treated.
Eti seized leadership of the
low-calorie biscuits and snacks
market in 2002 with its Eti
Form product range. As a result of the Eti Form
launch, the size of this market grew by 25%.
(Source: AC Nielsen Retail Panel, 2004 Turkey.)
The Eti Form advertisement campaign won third
prize, a Bronze Effie, in the 2005 Effie
Advertisement Event Contest.
Eti was first in the Turkish cake market to
produce small cakes in paper cups with its 2003
release of Browni Gold. In 2004, the next full
year after the release of this popular product,
the cake market grew by 27%. (Source: AC
Nielsen Retail Panel, 2004 Turkey.)
Aside from the prizes Browni Gold has
earned, the Consumers Union chose Eti as the
Company of the Year in 2004 and awarded it
‘The Respect to Consumers Award’ for its
product Pronot, which was developed for
patients with digestive illnesses.
History
The Eti Biscuit Factory was founded by Firuz
Kanatl› in Eskiflehir in 1961 and started
production one year later with 22 employees
making, among other products, Petit Beurre,
Finger, Marie, Kremal›, Sable and Bademli
biscuits. Eti became automated in 1965 and in
1972 the company name was changed to Eti
G›da Sanayi ve Ticaret A.fi. Eti made its first
export in 1974, to Northern Cyprus, and in
1979 it began meeting its machinery and plant
needs on its own. In 1980, Eti founded Tam
G›da Sanayi ve Ticaret A.fi. in the Eskiflehir
Organized Industrial Zone and started producing
biscuits, stick crackers and cake. One year later,
the company formed a marketing company to
more effectively market and sell its products. In
1983 the company started production of the
first cake slices in Turkey. In 1988, Eti’s packaging
won first prize from the Turkish Standards
Institution (TSE). In 1992, Eti modernized its
facilities and formed Eti G›da A.fi. Organised
Facilities. In the same year the company gained
the first ISO: 9002 certificate in the Turkish
biscuits and snacks segment. In 2001, the Turkish
financial daily newspaper Dünya named Eti the
Most Successful Company. As a result of ‘the
most trusted trademark chosen by the
consumer’ survey conducted
between November 2001 and
March 2002, Eti won the 2002
Quality Award and so gained
recognition of the quality of its
products. Eti laid the foundation
of the biggest cake factory in
Turkey, in Eskiflehir, in July 2003.
Long identified with biscuits, Eti
opened a new era in 2003 with the start of
chocolate production. Responding to consumer
demands to produce chocolate products, Eti made
a US$20 million factory investment in the Eskiflehir
Organized Industrial Zone and invested additional
funds in research and development and human
resources to ensure the project’s success.
Products
Eti started business in the biscuits and snacks
segment and in 2003 enlarged its range with
chocolate products. The company now has 59
trademarks and a range of 130 different flavours,
including its products in the low-calorie, health
food, taste-pleasure, and baby products sub-segments.
Eti’s chocolate products now have 9 trademarks
and a range of 17 different flavours, including
chocolate-covered bars and wafers, as well as
chocolate blocks.
Recent Developments
Long identified with the catchphrase ‘When it
comes to biscuits…’, Eti began a search for a
new one after it entered the chocolate market.
The new catchphrase needed to represent all
the company’s products and its corporate identity,
while embracing the company’s past and future.
A year of studies involving consumers and various
company departments revealed that consumers
and the company itself summarize Eti in two
statements: ‘Proficiency and innovation’, ‘Always
working to reach the highest quality, always
innovative and always creating pioneering products
in its area’, Further lengthy studies led the company
to adopt the catchphrase ‘Eti, a Civilization of Taste!’,
which emphasised the company’s roots in Anatolia,
the cradle of many civilizations. One of Anatolia’s
most accomplished civilizations, the Hittites, inspired
the company name and logo, a sun symbol.
In parallel with its corporate transition, Eti
sponsored the first wide ranging exhibition at
the new ‹stanbul Modern, the Fikret Mualla
Retrospective. In the belief that exposing the
young to art will have an important impact on
the future of Turkish art, Eti undersigned the
project as an exercise in corporate social responsibility.
The company also moved to bring art into
everyday life by printing four pictures from the
exhibition on the boxes of its Eti Tutku biscuits,
which it sold around Turkey.
In addition, another social responsibility
activity, the children’s theatre project, continues.
Eti has played a major role various activities
and sponsorships focused on preserving and
promoting Turkish cultural heritage and historical
values in order to introduce these to future
generations. Eti, whose name derives from the
Hittites, one of the Anatolia’s important
civilizations, has positioned itself as ‘a Civilization
of Taste’. This indicates how much the concept
of civilization matters to Eti. The company’s
most important mission is support all the values
that make up the past and future of Turkish
civilization and fund sustainable projects that will
transfer these values to future generations.
The company’s latest project is the
illumination of Anadolu and Rumeli Hisarlari
(Fortresses of Europe and Asia, built by
Mehmed the Conquerer in 1452 in preparation
for the Ottoman seige of ‹stanbul). The twin
fortresses on either side of the Bosphorus have
made their mark on Turkish history and carry
great strategic importance. ‹stanbul has been the
home of many civilizations over the centuries.
This project will give Anadolu and Rumeli
Hisarlari, which have played a great role in the
Turkification of Anatolia, the care they deserve.
Over the next five years, Eti will provide the
illumination of Rumeli and Anadolu Hisarlar›,
Eti’s ‘Civilization of Taste’ flag will wave over the
fortresses and thus the past will be displayed in
all its splendor in the future.
Promotion
Eti positions and promotes its 15 to 20
trademarked products carefully, using a variety of
media channels. The company uses television
most extensively because consumer research
indicates that this is the most effective tool for
Eti’s market. (Source: TNS Piar, The Eti Image
Research project, 2004-2005.) However, the
company tailors its choice of media channel to
the product, message and intended consumer.
To illustrate the point, as the leader of the lowcalorie biscuits and snacks segment, Eti has
implemented a broad promotion programme for
its Eti Form range. Advertorials concentrate on
the importance of healthy eating but the
company also conveys its message and
promotes its Eti Form products on the Internet.
The website www.formdakal.com (‘formdakal’
means ‘keep your shape’) was set up as a
reference site for information about nutrition
and it provides free nutritionist services. Meanwhile,
Eti’s corporate website, www.etietieti.com, is
designed for consumers of all ages, with product
information and games for children.
Besides the support
given to the
company’s
brands, Eti
renewed its
promotion of its
corporate
trademark with the
adoption of the
catch phrase
‘A Civilization of
Taste!’ In line with
the thinking behind
the catchphrase,
Eti’s television
advertisements make a
connection between the
rich variety of civilizations
that have populated
Anatolia and the Eti
products of contemporary
civilization. The corporate
catchphrase and symbol
are now prominent on
every Eti product and
advertisement.
As part of Eti’s corporate
communication campaign,
the company has taken
space on the moving image
system between the ‹stanbul
subway stations. Eti intends
this project to strengthen
its message by displaying
the ‘Eti, a Civilization of
Taste!’ catchphrase and all
its products together on
an unexpected and
different platform that will
surprise the consumer.
Besides a variety of media
channels, the company’s
sponsorships are also
used to promote its
corporate trademark.
Eti puts great store in
fostering the physical and
mental development of
children. To this end, the
company sponsored the
2002 tour of the Paris
Circus, which put on a
total of 260 shows in
‹stanbul, ‹zmir, Ankara,
Eskiflehir, Denizli, Antalya, Konya and Bursa.
To instil a love of art, brotherhood, peace,
sharing and equality in young minds, Eti
Children’s Theatre Company started performing
in 2001. Putting on plays and shows in schools
and community education centres round Turkey,
the Theatre Company brings theatre to many
children for the first time. The Theatre
Company’s first play, the appropriately named
‘The Biscuit Man’, was watched by 100,000
children all over Turkey. The Theatre Company
continued with ‘With Cocoa’ in 2002 and restaged
‘Biscuit Man’ in 2003. It has been playing
‘Aladdin’s Magic Lamp’ since 2003 and
performed in 41 cities in front of 110,000
children in 2004. The Theatre Company plans
to reach 250,000 children in 81 cities.
Brand Values
Eti is committed to producing high quality
biscuits, snacks and chocolate products and
making them widely available at reasonable
prices so consumers specifically demand
Eti products at the point of sale. The
company remains committed to its
founder’s precept: ‘Eti should
be based on quality and
innovation’, In this sense
the company has
earned consumers’
trust by both
maintaining quality and
innovation.
One important
factor in maintaining
this reputation has
been the company’s
continual development,
particularly in its plant
modernisations and
other technical
innovations.
Eti is the first brand that comes to consumers’
minds whenever biscuits are mentioned.
However, Eti maintains that the most important
factor is its investment in people. So, in addition
to production investments, the company supports
many projects that bring a direct benefit to
people. Among these projects, Eti supports the
Children’s Theatre Company, which tours all
over Turkey, and sponsors various artistic
activities that bring art into people’s lives. Eti is
proud of its support for these projects, which it
sees as an exercise in social responsibility.
www.etietieti.com
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
Eti
Eti produced Pronot for patients with digestive
disorders in 2003. This was Turkey’s first locally
produced gluten-free biscuit.
Eti was ranked as 7th nationally for advertising
expenditure in 2004 and 2nd for advertising
expenditure in the biscuits and snacks segment.
Three years after its launch, Eti’s low-calorie
product website, www.formdakal.com, received
its one millionth hit.
Eti’s biscuit and snack products account for
40% of any point of sale. (Source: AC Nielsen
Retail Panel, 2004 Turkey.)
The Browni Gold 250 gr packages released in
the second quarter of 2005 have Braille writing
on them, confirming the company’s social
responsibility and commitment to
communication with and sensitivity towards the
customer. This development is a result of
collaboration with the Federation of the Blind.
SUPERBRANDS
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