Yıldız Holding Launches "Women Stars of Agriculture" Project

Yıldız Holding Launches "Women Stars of Agriculture" Project Superfresh, the brand of Kerevitaş, a company of Yıldız Holding and one of Turkey's largest agricultural raw material suppliers, will procure 5,000 tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables from contracted women farmers, creating value worth TRY 35 million. Under the "Women Stars of Agriculture" project implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, contracted women farmers will also receive TRY 500,000 in incentives. Under the Women Stars of Agriculture project, led by the Yıldız Holding Women's Platform and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Kerevitaş's Superfresh brand will provide contracted women farmers with a purchasing guarantee of 5,000 tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables by 2025, creating value worth TRY 35 million. The project will also provide women farmers with TRY 500,000 in incentives from the Yıldız Holding Women's Platform.

This project will make important contributions to rural development

The press conference where details of the project were presented was attended by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci, Yıldız Holding Board Chairman Ali Ülker, Yıldız Holding Women's Platform Ambassador Begüm Mutuş, and women farmers who will benefit from the support programme. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci, noting that the project will set an important example in the business world by supporting local suppliers, particularly women farmers, continued as follows: "Projects aimed at rural development are at the centre of many efforts conducted for the development of our country. For this reason, as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, we attach great importance to projects implemented to support women in rural areas. We are particularly pleased that this work has begun within Yıldız Holding, which leads the food industry in Turkey. Our greatest wish is for the number of projects contributing to rural development to increase further."

We will increase the proportion of women farmers in our supply chain by 100 percent

Yıldız Holding Board Chairman Ali Ülker, recalling that in 2021 they established the 'Yıldız Holding Women's Platform' to sustain equal opportunity practices within Yıldız Holding and its companies and to increase the visibility of women in working life across Turkey, stated: "We carry out work aimed at strengthening women economically and socially, and we realise effective partnerships with our stakeholders. When establishing our platform, we aimed not only at accelerating equal opportunity practices for Yıldız Holding employees but also for thousands of women in our supply chain. Proceeding from this understanding, we are implementing an important project through Superfresh, one of our country's largest agricultural raw material suppliers, in which we will directly procure products from our contracted women farmers. With this project we are announcing today with the support of the Ministry, we have pressed the button to strongly increase the proportion of women in our supply chain. Through this project, which will provide security and financing to women farmers in Superfresh's supply chain, we will increase the proportion of women farmers by 100 percent within the next three years."

We are contributing to comprehensive transformation in the field of equal opportunity

Yıldız Holding Women's Platform Ambassador Begüm Mutuş, noting that inclusivity and cultural diversity hold an important place among Yıldız Holding's global values, stated: "Our Women's Platform aims to accelerate exemplary practices at Yıldız Holding and its companies and to support comprehensive transformation in the field of equal opportunity in our country. In this scope, we are realising important cooperation with our women farmers and launching the Women Stars of Agriculture project. We are providing our contracted women farmers with a direct purchasing guarantee for three years for use in our Superfresh branded products." Begüm Mutuş also recalled that the Yıldız Holding Women's Platform recently joined the United Nations' "Women's Entrepreneurship Accelerator" (WEA) initiative, which aims to create favourable ecosystems for women entrepreneurs worldwide, and that they will continue to support women entrepreneurship.