Place : Küçükkuyu - Ayvacık, Çanakkale - TURKEY
Application : Olive Oil Applications
Operating Machines :
1 pieces of Olivemax 53
Interviewee : Halil Zahit Mert (Küçükkuyu TARİŞ Chairman of the Board of Directors)
Interviewer : Feriha BAHAR
F.B. : Can you briefly introduce yourselves and Küçükkuyu TARİŞ?
H.Z.M.: My name is Halil Zahit Mert. I was born in Adatepe village of Küçükkuyu in 1965. This is my homeland since I was born and grew up here. As the son of an olive cultivator-farmer family, I have always been in the production of olive/olive oil production since my childhood. I grew up with olive, was risen with olive. Therefore, olive and olive cultivation have always been at the center of my life. We met the cooperative in 1991, after decease of my father. Our partnership in Küçükkuyu TARİŞ Cooperative was the milestone of me and my family. This cooperative constitution has also a great sentimental value for me, because my grandfather was one of seven founders of Küçükkuyu TARİŞ, which was established in 1943. From this point of view, I consider this cooperative a sort of a “patrimony”, Küçükkuyu TARİŞ that I still execute the chairmanship of board of directors of means so much to me, it is a heritage from my grandfather and is precious. Küçükkuyu TARİŞ is a very old cooperative, it was established in 1943. At first, this cooperative carried out the activities with the limited facilities, but it developed and grew in time by acting together in harmony with a central structuring. In 1995, continued system was adopted and traditional water press technique was abandoned gradually. Since the old TARİŞ factory was located within Küçükkuyu, it moved to an area that it provides services now with its complete technical structure considering the needs of the town borders of which is expanding day by day. Now, the production is made with 4 machines with 80 tons of capacity.
F.B.: How did you meet HAUS?
H.Z.M.: At first, Küçükkuyu TARİŞ started extraction process with traditional water presses in 1976. In 1995, continued system was adopted with the machinery of a foreign brand. Considering other cooperatives in general, we became the first TARİŞ cooperative that used a local-branded machine while almost all of them worked with foreign brands. Of course, this was so important, we took this step to support home production and ensure customer satisfaction and started to work with HAUS. We have not changed our preference since then, because we care about both management and satisfaction our producer. We have been really pleased with our business partnership so far. We do not have spare part supply and service problems that are inevitable in working with foreign brands with you, this is a quite important factor. We have been carrying out our productions with 2 HAUS machines with 80 tons of capacity since 2001.
F.B. : How and where are HAUS Machines used in your facility?
In the past, production was made with the machinery of foreign brands as obligation, but domestic industry developed on this matter and domestic brands took the place in the production process gradually. We operate in Küçükkuyu TARİŞ with HAUS and another brand. We obtain a great efficient from our 2 HAUS-branded machines with 80 tons of capacity. We are a cooperative having 810 partners. We operate in the crate system, we have about 45 active employees during the season. With elections made in November 2015, board of directors was renovated and Küçükkuyu TARİŞ gained a different acceleration. In fact, our cooperative was reborn. Supply of equipment and parts like machinery spare parts, machinery accessories, engines, spirals were renovated. Number of crates increased, recording system was renewed from zero and all recordings were transferred to computer environment. With full-hygienic chrome tank investments, storage capacity increased up to 1000 tons. IP camera systems was set in all area of the factory from input of olive with crates to output as olive to monitor all production process, and it was ensured all stages of the journey from olive to olive oil were monitored and recorded step by step for 24 hours and approximately 70 days. In other words, a contemporary, modern, reliable factory atmosphere was established to protect the effort of our valuable olive producers and ensure consistent satisfaction. HAUS has contributed greatly to our factory in producing successfully and potentially by serving as a model for other TARİŞ cooperatives. I wish our business and solution partnership will continue and would like to thank you.
F.B. : Why HAUS?
Supporting domestic and national industry and receiving efficient service mutually are serious reasons for preference both for us and our producers. We hereby remove high service/spare part costs in foreign brands and it is more possible to solve potential technical problems rapidly and economically and ensure sustainability and efficiency of production with you. We would like to maintain working with you in the future.
