Nuffield Poultry Study Group
Turkey 13th – 19th October 2012
Simon Carlton NSch
Sponsored by:
Acknowledgments
The 2012 Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour took place in Turkey this year with a party of 14 people;
Aled Griffiths, Andrew Hignett, Andrew McKenzie (Guest), Andrew Riley, David Tromans, Gerard
Bailey-Watts (MSD sponsor), Helen Houghton, Jack Clayton (who replaced David Parsons who
unfortunately had to cancel for family reasons) Mark Williams, Nick Chippindale, Nigel Butcher (HyLine sponsor), Rachel Watkins, Simon Carlton and Steve Pritchard.
The Nuffield Poultry Group would like to thank all the sponsors for their welcome support and generosity.
The main sponsors of this study tour were Hy-Line and MSD. Danisco and Anitox were also sponsors.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Contents
Page
Acknowledgements
1
Executive summary
3
Overview of Turkey
5
Visit reports
9
Appendix 1:
Itinerary Overview
21
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Executive summary
Poultry production in Turkey is growing fast. But what kind of a threat does it present to Europe and the
UK?
With over half its 74 million citizens under the age of 30, and with population growth of around half-amillion people a year, Turkey is a country in the ascendency.
And the same can be said of its poultry sector.
The poultry meat sector has doubled in size in the last 10 years, while exports, which came to 248,000 tonnes
last year, are on target to reach 535,000 tonnes by 2016.
Production is in the hands of 28 integrated companies and contributes 6.3% to Turkish agricultural output,
producing 1.73m tonnes of poultry meat in 2011.
While feed prices are similar to those in Europe, labour is considerably cheaper, with poultry processor staff
taking home under £5,000 per year on average.
One of the major integrators is Beypilic at Bolu in the north of the country.
A global supplier to Burger King, it produces 360,000 broilers a day – equivalent to over 1 billion a year.
The company is about to double capacity of its feed mill to 860,000 tonnes a year, having already taken
delivery of the new equipment.
Plans for the doubling of the slaughtering and processing facilities are also well advanced and foundation
work has commenced. The existing processing facilities produce chicken burgers, kebabs, meat balls,
nuggets and schnitzels.
The major hurdle Beypilic says it faces is recruiting enough contract growers. The company is therefore
encouraging existing growers to build new 200,000 bird sites, though it is understood one has started on a
400,000 bird unit.
With a claimed net profit of €27,000 a crop for a contract grower taking 100,000 birds to 43 days of age,
maybe recruitment won’t be such an issue!
Egg production
The Turkish egg industry, although more fractured than the broiler sector, is also growing fast.
It is the world’s 11th largest operator, producing almost 14bn eggs in 2011. Egg exports have increased by
over 200% from the end of 2009 to 2012 and are on target to reach US$320m by the end of this year.
Local shell egg consumption is almost identical to that of the UK at 188 eggs per person per year. Table eggs
make up 90% of production, but some of the large integrators are now investing in state-of-the-art egg
processing facilities.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Keskinoğlu, the largest Turkish egg company, produces over 4 million eggs a day and has almost completed
building its second 2.2 million layer site, with cages that will require very little modification to reach EU
enriched cage standards.
This is currently expected to be required in 2015, though it is likely to be delayed at least a year. A Moba
FT500 packing line, handling 180,000 eggs an hour, has just been installed at the company’s 4th packing
station, with space left for an FT330 to be up and running by April 2013.
Keskinoğlu also has its own egg tray manufacturing factory using waste paper and cardboard, churning out
400 million trays a year. And it has its own composting site producing 500t/day of poultry-derived organic
fertiliser in bag, bulk and liquid formats.
With 1.4m tonnes of feed capacity at its two mills to feed the layers and the 300,000 broilers it rears each
day, Keskinoğlu is a good example of the Turkish poultry industry; successful, entrepreneurial and growing.
Conclusion
So should the UK poultry industry be worried about such ambition and growth?
Two major factors need to be considered – the salmonella status of Turkish poultry flocks and the country’s
plans for accession to the EU
While Turkey has a stated aim of zero salmonella for all serotypes in poultry, it is not yet effectively
implementing a programme to achieve this. Research in 2010 showed salmonella levels in Turkish layer
flocks to average over 55%, while earlier work showed broiler flocks averaging 39%. Clearly much remains
to be done.
As for negotiations surrounding Turkey’s accession to the EU, these have been on-going for some years.
However, with the recent European credit crisis leading to questions about the long-term survival of the
Euro, membership of the EU is looking less attractive.
Currently a free-trade agreement exists for industrial goods, but import tariffs remain on Turkish agricultural
produce. European producers are therefore insulated to an extent from Turkey’s cheaper poultry production.
While the official line remains that Turkey intends to accede, the country is really concentrating its
agricultural produce sales drive in The Middle East.
Iraq tops the list of destinations for poultry meat, followed by the so-called “Turkish Republics”, (including
Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan), Libya, Iran, Jordan and Russia.
So, with a growing population which is eating more meat and eggs each year, and with plenty of nearby
countries open to Turkey’s exports, the UK has little to fear, at least until Turkey joins the EU or - and
this is no longer so far-fetched - the UK leaves.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Overview of Turkey
Facts about Turkey
Straddling both Europe and Asia, and bordering 7 countries; Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria
and Greece, Turkey has a population of 74million, over half of which are under 30.
Turkey is the world's 18th and Europe’s 7th largest economy and according to HSBC’s “The World in
2050” report, Turkey will be the world’s 12th and Europe’s 4th biggest Economy by 2050. Turkey aims to
be among the world’s 10 largest economies by 2023, on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the
Republic.
According to the OECD, Turkey is expected to be the fastest growing economy among OECD members
during 2011-2017, with an annual average rate growth of 6.7%.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Turkey amounted to $15 billion by the end of 2011, showing a
75% rise in volume over the previous year.
Two-thirds of Turkey’s overall FDI comes from the EU. (In 2011, three quarters of Turkey’s overall FDI
came from the EU.)
Turkey has been in the customs union with 27 EU countries since 1995 and has free trade agreements
with 19 other countries.
Demographics-labour market
Youngest population in Europe; dynamic workforce, 4th largest labour force compared to the EU-27
 One of the biggest markets of the world with a population of 74.7 million
 Over 50million internet users and over 65 million mobile phone subscribers
 Average labour costs $3.37/hour compared to Germany $39.0/hr (2010 figures)
 Productivity increased by 18% since 2005, real wage index up by 2%
 Average sick days/employee is 4.6/yr (UK 5.5, Germany 6.6)
 Population growing, disposable income growing
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Public Finance
Turkey complies with the Maastricht Criterion in government debt since 2004
EU Defined Debt Stock/GDP
85%
75%
82.5%
80.0%
77.9%
74.0%
74.8%
67.7%
65%
62.5%
59.6%
55%
52.7%
46.5%
45%
39.9%
35%
Turkey
Maastricht Criteria
46.1%
42.2%
40.0%
39.4%
EU-27 Average
Trade Partners
Active trade diversification policy since 2008
 Top trade partners of the country are Germany, Russia, China, Italy, US, Iran, France and the UK
(8th biggest trade partner)
 EU is the country’s biggest trade partner, but its share has been on the fall due to governments trade
diversification policies to minimise risk from EU
 Top exports: consumer electronics, cars, textile, construction sector
 Top imports: energy, pharmaceuticals, machinery and transport equipment
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Currency is Turkish Lira (TL), 1TL made up of 100 cents (krs)
Year
2010
2011
Exchange rate TL vs US$
1.5
1.65
Exchange rate TL vs GBP
2.50
2.77
Growth of the economy %
9.2
8.5
Inflation rate %
6.4
10.5
Interest rate %
9.2
9.8
Unemployment %
11.9
9.1
Population in millions
73.7
74.5
Average per capita income in US$
10,080
10,445
2012
1.8
2.85
3.0
9.8
8.3
9.8
75
10,975
Agriculture
The Turkish Agriculture sector is the 7th largest in the world and 1st in Europe. Size of the sector
was $63 billion in 2011, 8.4% of GDP, import volume $12.9 billion, exports volume $12.7 billion
(2010 figures). No pig industry
The Government is pro agriculture but does not support with any money
Challenges and Opportunities
Fragmented land structure, bureaucracy in importing into Turkey / EU accession, sector players
acknowledge the need to invest in technology to increase productivity and efficiency, increasing
awareness in food safety
Future outlook
Technological advances in farming increase productivity, food security & safety gaining audience,
necessity to grow more & healthier food with less chemical intervention, innovative packaging
solutions to keep produce fresh for a longer time
Poultry Facts
 Government have a zero salmonella target (not rigorously enforced at present)
 Poultry meat industry grew by 27% in 2011
 Main diseases, Newcastle and Infectious Bronchitis.
 Red meat is 4 x more expensive than poultry
 The whole of the broiler market is integrated in Turkey (28 integrated businesses)
 Turkish Egg industry (11 largest in the world) produced almost 14 billion eggs in 2011
 500 producers supply 80% of eggs
 Egg cost of production18krs, selling price 19krs
 90% egg production is caged, 70% white, 30% brown
Chicken Domestic Production
000 tonnes
2010
Production
1,450
Imports
Exports
140
Consumption per
18
capita in kgs
2011
1,613
230
19
2012
1,800
250
21
2013
1,950
270
22
2014
2,100
295
23
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Broilers - Market Trend
Av Killing Weight (kg)
Whole Bird Fresh (%)
Whole Bird Frozen (%)
Cut up Fresh %
Cut up Frozen %
Further Processed %
2010
2,3
47
45
8
2011
2,35
45
45
10
2012
2,35
43
47
10
2013
2,4
42
47
11
2014
2,4
42
47
11
2015
2,45
40
48
12
Broiler information
Raw Material Prices
Maize
Soybean
Soybean Meal-48
Soybean Oil
Wheat
350 USD/tonne
735 USD/tonne
735 USD/tonne
1380 USD/tonne
367 USD/tonne
PS Price-Advance Payment
Current DOC Price
Broiler Feed Cost
Feed Consumption per bird
3,65 EURO
50 USD cent
555-610 USD /t
4,23 kg
Current Wholesale Broiler
Meat Price/Whole chicken
2,5 USD /kg
 Government banned GMO raw materials, but had to step back from that position and now have
derogations for some raw materials as could not source enough Non GM products
 Simple diets, Maize or wheat, with soya, sunflower meal/oil and amino acids/mins-vits
 AGPs banned in feed in 2006 but can be used therapeutically
 No Meat & Bone meal used
 Use Phytase
Poultry Meat exports (not including legs) Tonnes
Countries
2006
2007
Iraq
Turkish Republics
Libya
Iran
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hong Kong
2,182
11,562
0
0
2,061
908
681
14,529
0
0
2,256
1,479
9,326
20,432
0
501
4,361
0
50,666
17,362
0
0
3,081
59
71,185
19,962
12
4,632
2,132
2,079
126,603
27,508
9,458
8,539
4,189
3,498
72
38
846
236
589
957
0
1,728
0
618
19,131
0
4,422
0
2,186
25,591
0
8,351
0
6,418
50,235
0
3,608
0
7,576
82,588
393
2,844
41
12,644
116,513
854
790
742
28,100
211,238
Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC)
Jordan
Vietnam
Russia
Others
TOTAL
Main Chicken feet
market
Tonnes
2012
Hong Kong
Vietnam
12,200
8,500
2008
2009
2010
2011
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Visit Reports - See Appendix 1 for itinerary.
Saturday 13th October
Arrived at Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul
Monday, October 15th
Travelled to Bolu to Beypilic Integrated Poultry Company.
Met at site by Kayhan Gürsel - Ross Breeder Anadolu Sales Manager and Michael Garden – Aviagen
Business Manager Turkey, Middle East and Africa.
Toured the mill with Semra Guder the Mill Manager, Primary and further processing sites with slaughter
house although the slaughter line was not running.
Key Beypilic Mill facts
 Mill manufactures 1400t/day over 24 hours and normally works 6 days a week so annual production
is around 400,000 tonnes
 Mill is doubling in size with the expected completion in February 2013
 12 diets produced – 4 broiler, 3 Parent stock, 5 Grandparent diets
 Typical broiler grower diet is 3,300Kcal, 19.5 – 20%CP, 3-4% oil
 Coccidiostat program changes every 3 to 4 months
Key Beypilic Broiler facts
 Average Beypilic broiler unit size 75,000 birds. Target is 200,000 birds
 Ave wgt 2.35kgs (up to 2.6kgs) at 45 days
 FCR 1.75
 Mortality less than 5%
Key Beypilic Slaughter-Processing facts
 Slaughter average of 360,000 birds/day (on 2x 8hour shifts) 6 days per week (9 million/month) all
birds are air chilled
 Slaughter house and primary processing (wing & breast removal) done on one very clean, efficient
and spacious site
 25% of birds go straight to cutting due to blemishes
 Further processing (e.g. nuggets, patties, burgers, meat balls, schnitzels, cooked meats) is on a new
site close by
Breeding stock used: Cobb 9%, Hubbard 5%, Ross 85%
145 chicks produced in 62 weeks (UK 126 to 127 in 62 weeks)
New mill manager Semra Guder, appointed last April.
Raw materials are weighed twice in two different ways for accuracy
500 tonnes oil storage (chicken oil, soya oil)
Most ingredients are automatically added but with some hand tips
Currently they manufacture 72 tonnes per hour or 1400 tonnes per day on a 24 hour shift, 6 days a week.
The mill is being expanded and in four months will be able to double the output. The expansion is using
predominantly CPM equipment. The mill supplies Ross Poultry with breeder feed, which is heat-treated
and treated with Termin-8 against Salmonella, E.Coli and Clostridia. Diets are predominantly 40% maize
with soya oil in grandparent stock and sunflower oil in parent stock. They have four press lines. The
haulage is done in 15 – 18 tonne trucks, articulated lorries can’t access many of the farms.
Cocci vaccines used on Parent Stock.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Small organic market but organic feed not tightly monitored for authenticity.
Normal feed 6 – 7 TL/kg. Organic 20 TL /kg.
Visited further processor plant and had to don overalls over boots, hair covers and masks.
Make chicken nuggets, chicken burgers (a global supplier for Burger King) and some products frozen.
Manual packing of burgers and the high risk area of the plant staff shower in. They work two 8 hour
shifts then 8 hour cleaning.
Exported products to Germany previously but the EU currently not allowing imports.
The group visited:
Area where coatings were added and product was fried then run through a vaporised oven at 72 C for
pasteurisation.
Room set aside for cooking and tasting samples of product which is done for two hours every day.
Burger King come and test products every six months.
A spiral chiller is used after cooking.
Samples are taken from each pallet for micro-biological testing and the tests results take 3 – 4 days.
The slaughter house is in a separate building. Started at the clean side and moved to the dirty side.
Birds in the cutting area have their wings taken off and the breast meat removed. Other meat is recovered
mechanically.
Control room where equipment monitored the grade of the birds and damage automatically.
The flocks from different farms are monitored separately as they come in to the slaughterhouse. Their
grading system automatically diverts rejects to the cutting line. Three hours after killing the birds get to
the cutting line. Less than 1% of birds are rejected. A government vet is permanently on site. Average
carcass weight is around 1730 grams and we saw birds from 1500 – 1800 grams. Live bird yield is 75%.
Cold store hold 5,000 tonnes.
The weeks slaughtering is skewed towards Thursday, Friday & Saturday for the BBQ market.
BeyPilic employs around 3000 people with 1400 working in the slaughter and processing plants.
A new Slaughter plant is being built which will kill 600,000 birds per 6 day week.
Typical take home pay is €500/month for the staff in the processing plant.
Further processing products include kebabs, meatballs, nuggets, schnitzels.
We were shown a corporate video which included views of the Research and Development farm, water
treatment plant where dirty water is treated and then used for cleaning down the slaughterhouse. The
government allows a maximum of 0.5 ppm of chlorine to disinfect carcasses but Beypilic do not use
chlorine. Commercial broilers are grown on contract farms. The contractor supplies the buildings,
equipment, water, electricity and the labour.
75% birds grown killed at 43 to 45 days. Sites are cleaned and restocked 2 to 3 weeks later. 25% are killed
at 38 days at around 2 kilos. They have just started the practice of thinning pens.
Most farms have around 50,000 birds but in future they are looking for farms of 100,000 birds and have
some who are 200,000. One contractor will build a 400,000 bird farm which will cost around 2.7 million
euros. Contract growers don’t have a fixed period of time and we were told that a 100,000 bird site will
make around 25 – 30,000 euros net profit from one crop and average 6 cycles per year.
Regarding Research and Development projects they are currently looking at the effect of new feed
enzymes on chicks, different ratios of raw materials measuring FCR and then following up carcass yield.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
TUESDAY 16TH OCTOBER
Visit to Ross Breeders Anadolu offices in Ankara. (RBA) where we were met by Kayhan Gürsel - RBA
Sales Manager and Michael Garden - Aviagen TMEA Manager.
Kayhan gave an informative presentation giving a background to Turkey and the Broiler market in
particular.
Key points
 The business was set up with 50:50 shareholding between Ross Poultry and Supreme Foods of
Saudi Arabia. In 2011 Ross Breeders Anadolu bought all the shares not under their ownership
 Sales of Parent Stock (PS) has grown since 2002 by 159% to 77,000 in 2012
 By 2022 sales of PS are forecast to be 129,000 (68% growth)
 Broiler market controlled by 21 Integrators
 5 independent Hatcheries
Top 9 Parent stock customers of RBA:
Ranked in PS
Market
placement volume
share %
Banvit
12
Beypiliç
11
Senpiliç
11
Erpiliç
11
Ege Tav (Trader)
Keskinoğlu
8
Emrepiliç (Trader)
Abalioğlu
7
Şekerpiliç
7
No. PS /year
1,100,000
1,000,000
950,000
870,000
650,000
600,000
550,000
400,000
345,000
Av farm
size
7,000 m²
10,000 m²
12,000 m²
12,000 m²
10,000 m²
9,000 m²
12,000 m²
8,000 m²
11,000 m²
No.
PS/Farm
35,000
50,000
60,000
60,000
50,000
45,000
40,000
60,000
55,000
On 1 January 2013 the company name will be changed to Aviagen Anadolu. The Turkish company was
formed in 2003 as a joint venture between Aviagen and the Saudi Arabian company Supreme Foods with
50% share each. In 2011 the Supreme Foods share was bought by Aviagen. Turkish chicken meat
consumption is around 20kg per head per annum compared to UK of around 22kg.
Parent stock placements in Turkey are 10.8 million in 2012 growing to 11.25 million in 2013.
Ross Breeders Anadolu (RBA) parent stock sales in 2012 are 77,000 expected to grow to 128,000 by
2022. The market share of RBA in 2012 is 75% but if CP PS sales are excluded the market share is 85%.
Banvit are the only company working with contract parent stock farms. Their normal output is 145 – 160
eggs per bird. All the other integrators own their parent stock farms but they contract out broiler
production.
Integrators sell chicken meat under their own brands and battle with the supermarkets such as Tesco’s
Kipa, Migros, Carrefour, who want to market everything under supermarket brand labels.
Virtually no frozen chicken is produced in Turkey. The increase in poultry consumption is slowing down
so the export market is going to be more important in future, particularly Iraq and Iran.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Integrator price to the wholesaler is 5.5TL for a whole chicken but with discounts up to 20%. In summer
there is usually a red meat surplus so poultry meat price tends to drop and whenever Ramadan falls
consumption drops dramatically. Current stocking rates are 18 birds per metre squared up to 21. Target
is to grow 50 kilos per metre squared.
Breeders operate a 5 to 6 birds per metre squared. Consumption of turkey meat is low and fairly static.
Broiler parent stock attracts 1% VAT and broiler meat 8% VAT.
Integrators are looking at broiler cages but not expected to play a big part.
Visit to Besd Bir, Turkish poultry meat producers and breeders association.
Dr. Bediha DEMİRÖZÜ, General Secretary gave some background to the organisation
The Breeding Poultry Association established in December 1992 was renamed as "Poultry Meat
Producers and Breeders Association" in 1994 after poultry meat industrialists gathered under its roof.
Chicken and turkey producers and their breeders can become members of BESD-BİR.
 Number of companies registered to BESD-Bİ: 28
 Number of members representing these registered companies: 125
 BESD-BIR is a member of Agriculture Council in Turkey and presents opinion related with the law,
bylaw and regulations legislated by governmental bodies that concern the sector and plays a critical
role by its contributions related with the legislation of applicable regulations.
 In the meantime as being a founder member of IPC (International Poultry Council), BESD-BIR
presents the Turkish broiler industry on the international platform.
Administrative body
Position
Name family name
Company
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Treasurer
Member
Member
Member
Member
Dr. Sait KOCA
Süleyman ÖZTÜRK
Emre BOR
Zuhal DAŞTAN
Ömer GÖRENER
Nezih GENCER
Mehmet KESKİNOĞLU
Beypiliç
Erpiliç
Şeker Piliç
Mudurnu Piliç
Banvit
CP Piliç
Keskinoğlu
Following 5 employee are working at the association on full time basis;
 General Secretary
 Vice General Secretary
 Technical Personnel
 Accountant
 Secretary
The organisation:
 Provides communication and coordination between members and governmental organizations,
 Undertake activities and effort for the improvement of the sector
 Collect data from the members to form statistical values and publish those values
 Encourage quality product production, undertake activities that increase production and
consumption
 Contributes to increase the demand for chicken and turkey meat products and to promote export
opportunities
 Organize conferences, workshops and symposiums related to poultry meat,
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
 Establish cooperation with the related institutions to find solutions for the problems of the sector
Member make up approximately 90% of the total poultry meat, hatching egg and day old chick production of
Turkey.
There are 12,000 broiler farms employing 2 million people in the poultry meat sector with a turnover of 4
billion dollars. In 2011 total exports were 247,945 tonnes including 36 tonnes of feet. Funding for Besd
Bir comes from the integrators paying by parent stock or broiler meat. Regarding salmonella control
Turkey has a target of zero % for Salmonella but regulations are not being rigorously enforced.
In 2005 the leading companies in the poultry sector established The Healthy Chicken Information
Platform. (HCIP)
 The scope of this platform is as follows;
 Raise awareness of all parties related with healthy chicken meat consumption;
 Revive the importance of chicken meat within the scope of healthy diet;
 Generalize the high production standards and international systems related with food security
within establishments that are active in all stages of production;
 Provide correct and reliable information to the public against unfounded claims that depolarise
unjustly
 The companies forming the platform constitute 85% of the production in Turkey.
 The HCIP has an advisory board consisting of experts and scientists of veterinary, agriculture, food
security, nutrition and physics and representatives of NGO (non-governmental organizations)
representatives.
 It commissions various publications, scientific reports and research and training programmes to
be prepared.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
 It informs the public regarding healthy chicken production and puts effort to increasing
consumption.
 It organises R&D studies related to its activities or oversees related parties organise these
studies. It supports R&D studies that are undertaken by other institutions.
Besd Bir don’t have any marketing budget per se but if there is a particular need to market poultry meat
the integrators get together. Two key issues facing the broiler market in Turkey from Besd Bir’s
perspective is:
1. New export markets
2. Keeping up with new legislation
Visit to Yum Bir which is the Turkish egg producers association. The secretary general, Huseyin
Sungur explained that the association had 13 members representing 500 producers, which constitutes 80%
of egg production in Turkey. The association was established in 2006. There is no commercial input. The
association handles production issues and policy issues. One of the biggest issues they have is the price of
eggs is very volatile.
No shell eggs are imported. The shelf life of an egg is 28 days, but the agricultural ministry says 21 days
to allow 7 days with the consumer.
Day 1 should be the laying day. Some packers take Day 1 as the day of packing. 90% of production is
table eggs. Egg processing is not at all well established. Keskinoglu are the biggest with 4.2 million
places producing 3 million eggs a day. Companies are paid between 7 and 10 days . Turkey is the 11 th
largest egg producing country in the world. In 2011 13,980,000,000 were produced.
Egg pricing Jan 2011 to now. Cost per egg in 2011 was 16 TLcents (krs). 2012 18krs and the selling
price is 19 per egg.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Exports are increasing, USD286 million of shell eggs in 2011 rising to USD320 million in 2012.
Exported to Middle Eastern countries and former Turkish Republics (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Kurdistan) predominantly.
Welfare for caged birds is undergoing a programme of improvement from now to 2015 (adoption of
European style enriched cages). Yum Bir are pushing for a later deadline and expect to be successful.
No animal proteins are fed and AGPs are banned.
Promotion tends to be via newspaper ads and some TV. The budget in 2007 was 600,000 euros. The
budget from 2008 to 2012 was 150,000 euros. Consumption in 2007 was 130 and has increased to over
180 eggs per capita. 20 years ago consumption was 60 eggs per head, 12 years ago it was 115 eggs per
head.
Yum Bir is funded by members who pay 0.06krs per day old chick. It is also sponsored by feed
companies.
The association has a staff of 2. There are 13 sub-associations which hold meetings every month. 7 – 8
companies farm over 1 million birds. There are a thousand companies producing eggs approximately,
70% of which farm less than 100,000 birds each. 99% of layers are caged. White eggs make up 70%
production, 30 % are brown eggs. Lohmann have 60% of the market. Hy-line are the second largest
breeding company.
Birds are sometimes moulted if the price is low. Eggs are stamped with a 14 digit identifier. Production
date is recorded on the packaging. There are no issues with beak trimming. Currently B class shell eggs
are exported to Greece. Some companies are now looking into processed eggs for fast food e.g.
omelettes.
Space required per bird 550 cm squared. In 2015 currently this will become 750 cm squared per bird but
a delay of at least a year is expected in the implementation.
Typical egg yolk is 10 on the Roche scale.
Exports are targeted at Middle East, Russia, Egypt and Tunisia.
Eggs are bought by Turkish consumers in supermarkets (40% of sales, mainly own label) small shops and
bazaars.
In Istanbul animal welfare groups are now present and pressure is mounting on welfare.
Yum Bir is a member of the International Egg Commission.
The organisation is looking at new export market opportunities and educating people that eggs are safe
and healthy. They plan to get a professional marketer to push egg sales. There are some UK companies
looking to work in joint ventures with Turkish egg producers and the egg industry is looking for outside
help in producing energy from farm waste products.
British Embassy,
Trade and Investment Manager, Yuliz Kiymaz made a presentation.
UKTI operate in 96 countries with 2400 staff. UKTI Turkey have 3 offices, one in Istanbul, Ankara and
Izmir with a team of 20 professionals. The objective is to double business between the UK and Turkey in
the 5 years from 2010 to 2015. 14 billion dollars’ worth of business was traded in 2011 made up of 60%
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
Turkish exports, 40% UK. Turkey is forecast to be the 4th largest economy in Europe by 2050. In 2011
Turkish GDP grew by 8% and by 3% in 2012. Half the population is under 30 years old. In 2011 foreign
direct investment (FDI) inflows were 15 billion dollars representing 75% growth over 2010. Some
agricultural product imports have tariffs reciprocating EU CAP protection.
Ipek Ariogul who is the Economic Officer gave an overview of the Turkish economy which is expected to
grow at 6 – 7% over the next 6 years. In 2011 inflation was 10.5%, in 2012 it was 8% and unemployment is
8%. The country has 50 banks. Two and half million people work in the public sector, around 10% of the
working population. Over 4 million jobs were created in Turkey over the last 10 years, which is the highest
rate in Europe.
A presentation by Necmettin Kaymaz of Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey followed
covering assistance offered to companies wishing to invest in Turkey.
WEDNESDAY 17th OCTOBER
Keskinoğlu visit hosted by Hyline’s Area Sales Manager Joao Paula then Babur Emre Pehlivan who is a vet
and responsible for all birds. The company produce broiler meat and eggs. 100 million broilers are hatched
per year and grown to between 41 and 45 days old.
Keskinoğlu are the largest egg producers in Turkey and largest exporter of eggs. They have 7% of the
Turkish egg market, the next biggest competitor has around 5%.
Ismail Keskinoğlu started with 30 hens in 1969 and now produces 1 billion eggs per year in the following
sizes – small, medium, large, jumbo and double-yoked. Some have extra Vitamin E and omega, free range
eggs and organic eggs. Eggs have a packing number stamped on them which is the location and the age.
They have just built a liquid egg plant which can produce 12 hundred tonnes per year and cost 6 million
dollars. Producing product in 1, 5, 10 litre polybags in one tonne lots. They have created a website for
children where they have recipes and games.
Feed production
In 1981 the feed mill was built for broilers and layers. Raw materials are mainly GM free. In 2005 a new
mill was added with a capacity of 1.25 million tonnes of feed. They have their own laboratories and do
all their own haulage in bulk and bags. Their broiler processing plant is equal to the best in Turkey
producing 400,000 chickens per day, 100% halal. Processing is fully automatic with birds killed within
an hour of arrival and packed, dispatched in 12 hours. The plant has 7,500 square metres of cold storage
using a 5 hour shock freeze at minus 40 centigrade, a 13 tonne capacity. The site is registered ISO 9001,
2200, EFSIS, OFAS 2001 and BRC, they are the only Turkish company licensed to seel to EU Saudi
Russia RSA.
In 2010 Keskinoğlu started a chain of chicken meat fast food restaurants where they serve chicken with a
unique spiced coating, French fries, salads, grilled chicken with a link on the internet www.tavvuk.tr.
The target is to have 200 franchise outlets by 2020. The company has a further processed products
division where they produce sausages, salamis, kofta, all made of chicken. The company is investing in
new product development and consumer testing as they see this as key to their success. The company also
has an egg tray manufacturing business.
The company also has an organic fertiliser business using the waste from the millions of layers. The
company is called Organica. It takes 6 weeks to produce the fertiliser and they produce 500 tonnes per
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
day in powder, pellet and liquid concentrate form. Product is available in 5 kg, 25kg, 50 kg packs and in
bulk.
The company own Fem Logistics which is a cool chain solution for transport. It is computer controlled
using GPS and multi-point temperature monitors. Truck movements are automatically relayed to the
warehouse. Over 250 refrigerated trucks which are fuel efficient and can run on bio diesel. Keskinoğlu
group turnover is 600 million dollars. The company are distributors for Hyline.
Turkish hens produce on average 188 eggs per year. Keskinoğlu export to the Middle East including US
army bases. The company employs 3500 staff. They have a broiler site with 180,000 broilers consisting
of 100,000 floor based and 80,000 in cages.
12 new layer houses are being built to hold 200,000 birds per house with each cage holding 20 birds.
When the new European regulations are enforced (currently expected to be 2015) the middle section of
two pens will be removed, doubling the size but holding 28 birds. The cages are 10 storeys high.
During rearing the birds have 12 hours light, the first four weeks of laying 13 hours and then half hour
more per week until they are on 16 hours to end of lay. At 7 days the beaks are trimmed once only.
The houses being built take six weeks to build and are stocked at 192,000 birds per house to reduce
mortality. The equipment is Big Dutchman. The concrete costs 450 – 500 TL per metre squared
constructed. The company has four egg packing stations with a capacity of 180,000 eggs per hour along 8
lines using Moba FT 500 and FT 330 machines.
One of the ways the company raises money is via issuing bonds. 30% of their funds come this way and
the interest rate is fixed at 4% over the rate of inflation.
The evening was spent having a wonderful dinner with the Keskinoğlu family in the main boardroom of
their offices.
THURSDAY 18th OCTOBER
Keskinoglu Layer Breeder Farm
Nigel Butcher and Helen Houghton enjoyed an interesting visit to Keskinoglu’s layer breeder farm. The farm
was a shower-in and shower-out facility, with good biosecurity. 30 staff worked on the farm that housed
250K birds. 2 rearing houses were heated by a coal fired service house, heating water to circulate into the
rearing houses.
The birds were in large cages with 60K birds per house. 2 houses contained Vencomatic cages, the rest
contained cages that had been specially designed and manufactured by Keskinoglu.
White Hy-Line W36 parent layers were reared to 82 weeks of age and at 79 weeks the eggs had excellent
shell quality.
Keskinoglu Hatchery
The Keskinoglu hatchery unusually hatched both commercial broilers and layer chicks. 60 staff work at the
hatchery where broilers are hatched 7 days a week and layers 3 days a week. The facility has good
biosecurity and with all staff showering in and showering out.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
All broilers were delivered onto rearing farms “as hatched”. The majority of the layers hatched were Hy-Line
W36 white layer chicks which were feather sexed and the few brown layer chicks were coloured sexed. No
beak treatment occurred in the hatchery the layer chicks received hot blade treatment on farm at 7-10 days
The layer chicks were vaccinated for Marek’s disease, Infectious Bronchitis and Newcastle Disease at day
old in the hatchery.
Egg tray manufacturing plant
40% of the Turkish egg tray market is supplied by Keskinoğlu. The business was formed in 1994 using
all recycled paper and cardboard. They produce 400 million units per year and a variety of medicare
packaging products. Paper is shredded and turned into papier mache, then heated and any colours added
and then formed through machinery.
The egg tray business uses bought in paper and cardboard which used to be free of charge but now costs
300 TL per tonne. The paper is placed in tanks of warm water at 50 – 60 C for 20 minutes. Product has a
water proofing liquid to stop the trays absorbing liquid once they are made, which is paraffin based.
Natural gas is used to generate heat and energy and electricity in three CAT motors producing 7000Kva.
The exhaust from these 3 generating motors assists in the drying of the egg trays.
Keskinoğlu are distributors for HyLine with 30 – 35% of the market. Lohmann are the largest with
around 60%.
Broiler slaughterhouse
Two lines, one line with 10,500 birds per hour. The second line has 8,000 birds per hour. The company
slaughter 300,000 birds per day and works 6 days a week. Each day consists of two shifts, in total 17
hours per day. Total staff of 1050. Old hens are slaughtered (approximately 200,000) separately over 3 to
4 days. All slaughtering is halal (by hand). The plant was built in 1997. An old layers slaughterhouse is
now being built and these birds will be marketed in Africa. The meat from the old layers is frozen and
goes to Bosnia. The company has a rendering plant for offal and feathers. All the feet go to China. All
export customers pay before delivery.
Broiler production of around 100 million/year
6 crops per year, 15 day turn round in winter, 10 days in summer. Layers are placed at 16 weeks and lay
until 97 – 100 weeks (including the moult). Keskinoğlu are used for catching birds. Contractors wash
and then Keskinoğlu staff give a second wash and 3 days later disinfect.
(high levels of bio security were observed in entering slaughterhouses and packing plants).
At the meat warehouse we saw a variety of products including 12 kilo blocks of chicken wings, 500 gram
bags of gizzards for sale at 2 TL, 1.2 kilos of drumsticks for 9.9 TL, 1.97 kilo whole chicken for 13.64
TL. Much of the packing was done by hand. All chilling was by air. 44% of the kill is sold as whole
birds. Birds are Ross or Hubbard. Ross are considered more efficient to grow, Hubbard easier to
slaughter and easier to de-feather with stronger wings. The Keskinoğlu laboratory is used for monitoring
listeria, salmonella, e coli and campylobacter. Some products are sent to government labs. Some are sent
to other accredited labs and others to their own. According to our guide, typical salmonella levels in the
field are 7% but European estimates place the level much higher in Turkey.
In the slaughtering area there are a team of 4 cutters, who in accordance with halal rules bless each
chicken. Any birds dead on arrival go to the rendering plant. 6,000 birds per lorry arrive. They claim
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
less than 0.3% mortality during transport. Intake of birds is a manual crate system but they are moving on
to a module system.
Rendering plant
1000 tonnes per week is rendered. Poultry meal oil level is 8%.
Further processing
This plant is next to the slaughter plant producing 100 tonnes of product per day, 50 different products are
produced including meat balls, nuggets, doner kebabs, sausages, salami, chicken burgers, all made of
chicken. The plant employs 350 people. There are 6 cold storage rooms for shock freezing at minus 40 C
then product is stored at minus 18 C. Chicken sausage products are the best-selling line, 50% for the
home market, 50% exported. The sausages are 80% chicken meat and 70% of the output of the plant is
sausage. Sausages are cooked at 75 C for 20 minutes. MDM meat is used for the Middle East sausage
exports. The breast and thigh meat is for the home market. Breast meat is hand floured prior to cooking
and supplied to the Tavvuk restaurants. The cooking consists of frying, then steam cooking at 180C.
Desserts are made consisting of breast meat with milk and sugar. Kebabs are also produced using tomato
paste, curry powder, olive oil. The meat is tumbled for 45 minutes. All additions are hand added.
Products are then quick chilled or then frozen. The target is to produce 200 tonnes a day by the end of
2014.
Turkish tastes are changing as more people are happy to buy pre-prepared products. Doner kebab meat is
cooked in a bank of 22 doner machines.
Lunch was taken at Tavvuk restaurant followed by a fleeting visit to the newer of the feed mills which
produces 460,000 tonnes of layer, broiler, breeder, pullet and day old chick feed. Breeder feed is treated
at 90C for four minutes.
Ravika olive oil
The company also has an olive oil producing company called Ravika named after the village where Ismail
was born in Greece. It started commercially producing olive oil in 2005 and they still use an original 1856
olive oil press. The olives are grown on the Keskinoğlu estate in carefully selected groves. They have
10% of the Turkish market share and export to 75 countries. The business is looking to expand into
sunflower oil and corn oil.
Various types of olive oil are produced in the bottling plant including lemon and chilli flavoured. The
business is managed by Mrs Ebru and produces 15,000 tonnes a year. No chemicals are used to extract
the oil, just presses. Cold pressing is used which gives very high quality product. Other companies use
hot water which produces more oil but of a lower quality. Quality is judged on acidity and flavour. When
we visited the site, orders were seen ready for export to Russia, USA and Iran amongst others. Bottle
filling is automatic. A total of 12 people work at the site.
Egg pasteurisation plant
This plant, managed by Gizem Uren, had been opened the previous week by the Turkish Minister of
Agriculture. They are using an Italian consultant called Giosui Casagrande to help them establish the
business. The equipment is Sanovo. They have one optibreaker 5000 which handles 50,000 eggs per
hour. 3 lines one for whole egg, one for yolk and one for egg white. Capacity of the plant is 4000 litres
per hour. The plant uses first class eggs. Seconds go for cooking to another plant. Heat exchanges from
other parts of the plant is used for pasteurisation. Whole eggs are pasteurised for 210 seconds at 63 – 66
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
degrees C. Yolk at 64 degrees C. Egg white at 57.5 degrees C minimum. Processed product goes to a
buffer tank to allow smooth running of the packing department.
We then visited Mr Keskinoğlu’s collection of classic cars. He has over 100 mainly American cars.
THURSDAY 18th OCTOBER
Visit to a replica of Ravika village
Ismail Keskinoğlu was born in Ravika, a village in the Ottoman Empire (now Greece) in 1900. Some
villagers were Greek, some Turkish and after an altercation Ismail fled to Izmir. After various jobs in
Turkey he started the egg business in 1969. He died in 2001. After his death a replica of Ravika village,
where he used to live, was built. All the olive oil is made in the original press in this village, pressing
starts at the end of October and runs for 2 months. The village is for show but can accommodate guests.
The group then returned to Izmir and the following day flew to Istanbul and then onto London.
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
APPENDIX 1
Nuffield Poultry Study Tour - Itinerary
Saturday 13th October
10.35 hrs Fly from London Heathrow (Terminal 5) to Istanbul (British Airways)
16.20 hrs Arrive in Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Transfer to the Elite World Prestige Hotel (by coach)
http://eng.eliteworldprestige.com.tr/11th-isop-annual-meeting--istanbul-hotels.aspx?pageID=1
19.30 hrs Departure from Elite World Prestige Hotel for dinner (walk)
20.00 hrs Dinner at Çiçek Pasajı (Cite de Pera)
Sunday 14th October
09.30 hrs Sightseeing in Istanbul (all day event)
(Topkapı Palace, Blue Mosque, Ayasofya Museum, Basilica Cistern, and Grand Bazaar)
12.30 hrs Lunch at Cafer Aga Medresesi
16.30 hrs Arrival at Elite World Prestige Hotel
17.30 hrs Departure from Elite World Prestige Hotel
18.00 hrs Dinner at boat (Bosphorus tour)
Monday 15th October
06.30 hrs Check-out and depart from the Elite World Prestige Hotel
09.30 hrs Visit to Beypi’s Feed Factory in Bolu
10.30 - 12.30 hrs Visit to Beypi’s Slaughtering House in Bolu
13.00 - 14.30 hrs Lunch
14.30 hrs Departure from Bolu
17.00 hrs Arrival at Rescate Hotel in Ankara
http://www.rescatehotels.com/ankara
19.45 hrs Departure from Rescate Hotel for dinner (walk)
20.00 hrs Dinner at Rasgele Fish Restaurant
Tuesday 16th October
08.45 hrs
09.00 hrs
10.15 hrs
10.45 hrs
11.45 hrs
12.15 hrs
14.00 hrs
16.00 hrs
19.00 hrs
20.00 hrs
Departure from Rescate Hotel (walk)
Aviagen presentation in RBA Office
Departure from RBA Office by coach
Besd-Bir presentation
Departure from Besd-Bir by coach
Lunch
Arrival to Yum-Bir
British Embassy
Departure from Rescate Hotel for dinner (by coach)
Dinner at Zenger Pasa Konagi Ankara Castle
Wednesday 17th October
06.30 hrs
08.35 hrs
09.50 hrs
12.00 hrs
Check out from Rescate Hotel and transfer to airport (by coach)
Fly from Ankara to Izmir (Pegasus Airlines)
Arrive at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport and drive to Akhisar
Lunch in Akhisar Tavvuk Restaurant
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton
14.00 hrs Meeting and presentation about Keskinoglu Group of Companies
15.30 hrs Rahmiye layer farm visit
16.30 hrs Egg packaging unit visit
17.00 hrs Egg pasteurisation facility
17.30 hrs Ravika Village tour
19.00 hrs Dinner
23.00 hrs Check in to Akhisar Palm City Hotel
http://www.palmcityhotel.com/ak/index.html
Thursday 18th October
10.00 hrs Check out from hotel for slaughter house visit
11.00 hrs Further processing plant visit
12.00 hrs Lunch in Tavvuk Restaurant
13.30 hrs Ravika olive oil filling facility visit
14.00 hrs Tour with mini bus around the facilities
16.00 hrs Depart for Izmir Swiss Hotel
http://www.swissotel.com/hotels/izmir/
20.00 hrs Dinner
Friday 19th October
08.45 hrs Fly from Izmir to Istanbul (Ataturk), arrive 09.40hrs (Atlasjet Airlines)
13.55 hrs Fly from Istanbul to London Heathrow (Terminal 5), arrive 16.05hrs (British Airways)
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Nuffield Poultry Group Study Tour to Turkey 2012 Report by Simon Carlton