We had an Interview with Ceren Binici

In this issue of our magazine, we had an interview with Croda Kimya's Sales Manager, Ceren Binici, on important issues such as the structure of the company, R&D and innovation activities, and sustainability approach.

First of all, we would like to get to know you. Could you please tell us about your education life, professional career, and personal interests?

I graduated from Middle East Technical University with a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. I also have a Master's degree in Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Throughout my career, spanning more than 13 years, I have worked at different multinational chemical and biotechnology companies in various roles, covering different regions from Western Europe, Middle East to Africa, and recently, I joined Croda Kimya as Consumer Care Sector Sales Manager in July 2022. [caption id="attachment_150895" align="aligncenter"] Ceren Binici[/caption]

Could you please give information about Croda Kimya's history and milestones? What is the current structure of Croda Kimya today, which regions do you operate in Turkey and abroad?

Croda Kimya is part of Croda, a Life Sciences and Consumer Care focused business that is the name behind sustainable, high-performance ingredients and technologies in some of the world's most successful brands; creating, making, and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere. Croda Kimya was established in 2011, managing the Black Sea and Mediterranean region, including not only Turkey but also Israel, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. We are flexible and adaptable to the needs of local customers, providing innovative solutions as well as high levels of service, technical and regulatory support. At Croda Kimya, we have 30 employees to serve our customers through our innovative solutions from our local stocks in Turkey.

With which products and services does Croda Kimya create solutions for its customers? Could you please give detailed information?

Croda's purpose is 'Smart science to improve lives™' and our smart science is found in products that touch our lives every day from life-saving pharmaceuticals and sun protection to crop yields and seed enhancement. We are a focused Life Sciences and Consumer Care company. Consumer Care includes personal care and home care. This division brings together the businesses within Croda that sit closest to consumers, providing innovative and sustainable solutions to manufacturers in home care, beauty and personal care, and fragrance. Another sector is Life Sciences, which helps our customers by providing the highest quality health care solutions, protecting crops and enhancing seeds. Environmental sensitivity and sustainability issues have gained even more importance in recent years.

Could you please give some information about your views on these issues and your approach as Croda Kimya?

As Croda, we are committed to being the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients, and we have a solid action plan in place to be Climate, Land and People positive by 2030. From sourcing raw materials to transferring our products to customers, we are looking to minimise our impact on the environment by eliminating process waste and reducing our water use impact, carbon footprint and increasing our use of bio-based raw materials. We are also improving the lives of people around the world by developing ingredients to improve health and wellbeing with the development of vaccines for some major diseases, but also helping reduce instances of skin cancer through our Sun Care ingredient. Last but not least, our crop innovations also help customers mitigate the impact of climate change and land degradation, increasing the availability of land suitable for growing crops.

From the perspective of innovation and R&D, what kind of innovations do you offer to your customers as Croda Kimya?

R&D is the core of our business at Croda, and we are very close to our customers to understand the industry's needs and challenges. We also work with global and regional associations to follow the trends so that we can create innovative solutions with our technology. Our ingredients may represent a small percentage of the finished products; however, with these ingredients we deliver unique performance benefits that make the difference in the end product. So, we will continue to find innovative solutions that the industry needs and expects by staying close to our customers and consumers.

What are the criteria Croda Kimya attaches importance to when creating investment plans? Are you planning to invest for the short and long term?

Croda has a product portfolio to meet the variety of needs of the different industries we serve. We are specialised in innovative and differentiated technologies to add value to our customers. Over the last few years, some of our acquisitions have included Iberchem and Parfex, expanding our reach into the high growth fragrance market, and Alban Muller to enhance our sustainable active ingredients portfolio for consumers in personal care markets. We also had some acquisitions in the pharma industry. In 2021, our acquisition of Avani Polar Lipids was completed, strengthening our Pharma division for next generation pharmaceuticals. We also have partnerships with regional technology companies, and here in Turkey we work together with Entekno Materials to focus on the development of a new particle technology to deliver superior protection benefits to the sun care markets.