Elton Turkey, which acquired Marmara Endüstriyel in 2020 and has been growing rapidly, focuses on the food, pharmaceutical and personal care sectors. The company aims to strengthen its position by expanding market share through its emphasis on sustainability, innovative solutions and qualified human resources. In our interview, Elton Turkey General Manager Burak Eryılmaz provided information about the company operating in six countries.
Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers by telling us about your education and professional career?
I graduated from the Chemical Engineering Department at Boğaziçi University in 2002 and started my career in 2004 as Domestic Sales Assistant Specialist at Eczacıbaşı Esan after completing my military service. I then worked as Middle East and North Africa Sales Manager at the same company. In 2007, I worked as Turkey Regional Sales Manager at DBI Plastics, enabling the company's market entry. During this period, I completed my MBA program at Bilgi University, achieving another one of my goals. In 2009, I joined IMCD Turkey and worked as Technical Sales Manager responsible for Construction and Mineral Oils, becoming part of a journey that grew the team from 15 to 70 people. Most recently, while serving as Department Manager responsible for Construction, Mineral Oils, Plastics and Textiles, I accepted the position of General Manager for the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions at Croda Turkey in 2019, opening a new chapter in my career. In December 2023, I returned to the distribution sector as General Manager of Elton Turkey and I continue in this role with pleasure. Along with these steps in my career, I have been married for 13 years and am a father to twin daughters.
Could you briefly tell us about Elton Group and Elton Turkey?
Elton Group was established in Greece in 1981 and began the sales and distribution of chemical raw materials. Our company, which went public in Greece in 2000, has sales offices in 6 countries. These countries are Greece, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Turkey. It conducts sales of auxiliary and specialty chemicals to many sectors including food, pharmaceuticals, personal and household care, food supplements, paints, construction chemicals, plastics, polyurethane, metals and water conditioning.
As Elton Turkey, we can say we are the most ambitious sales office of Elton Group. Elton Group completed the establishment of Elton Chemistry in Turkey by first acquiring 70 percent of Marmara Endüstriyel in 2015 and then 100 percent in 2020. I believe that serving a country with high potential and market volume like Turkey holds great opportunities for the company's development and future. At Elton Turkey, we currently have a team of 19 people with a head office in Istanbul and a regional office in Izmir, and we take steps together every day to improve all our processes and results. The sectors we serve that are currently in the forefront for us in Turkey are food, pharmaceuticals, personal care, household care and food supplements. In the near future, we aspire to increase our market presence in the industrial field and actively provide solutions to the paints and construction chemicals sectors.
Could you explain Elton Group's approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility in its operations?
Four of Elton Group's six companies are located in the European Union. For this reason, Elton Group must fully comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, namely CSRD, for the 2025 financial year as of 2026. So far, only Elton Greece publishes non-financial reporting data in the context of annual financial statements. Among the non-financial data we report are energy consumption, CO2 emissions, staff demographics, training, occupational health and safety issues, waste management, donations and sponsorships. For the past two years, Elton Greece has been participating in the SYNESGY platform provided by CRIF to assess ESG compliance. Additionally, Elton management continuously supports the sustainable development of our business through sound governance, financial decisions and partnerships.
How does Elton Group ensure quality assurance and regulatory compliance? Could you explain with examples?
Elton Group has over 40 years of experience in the chemical distribution sector and has developed strong relationships with many recognized suppliers worldwide. The company has established various business units to meet the different demands of each market. The raw materials we distribute are reliable for our broad customer portfolio and are supplied in original packaging with all necessary documentation according to their intended use. By the nature of our business, our sales team is well-trained and highly qualified in relevant fields and provides support and technical information to our customers.
Could you describe the work you have done for the food and beverage sector?
The food and beverage sector, due to its own dynamics, requires different solutions depending on season, region and economic conditions. In this direction, our sales teams work in coordination with quality, R&D and procurement units, evaluating and monitoring the sector's needs with a holistic approach on-site. While offering alternative solutions with products of different origins, brands and contents, we also continuously monitor scientific studies, consumer trend research, sectoral behavior, raw material and harvest trends, placing our long-term planning on a healthier ground both for Elton and for our business partners. We evaluate our portfolio in two main groups: auxiliary chemical raw materials and natural products. In addition to our E-coded products, starches, natural preservatives, plant proteins and extract groups are also part of our portfolio. With this broad product range, we aim to provide comprehensive and innovative solutions to the sector.
As Elton Turkey, how do you add value to the sector with your approach in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics units?
At Elton Turkey, the Pharmaceutical-Cosmetics unit operates under a single umbrella. Our sales team is divided into two under this umbrella and both units share the same vision: to add value to the sector with an innovative and development-focused perspective. Our position in the market constitutes one of the most critical points in our customers' supply chain processes. The continuity of our stock, our planning processes and our ability to identify growth trends in advance and act accordingly are among the starting points of our critical approaches in terms of sustainability. By closely following global trends, we participate each year in international trade fairs such as CPHI and Vitafoods in the pharmaceutical and food supplement fields, and Incosmetics in cosmetic applications. Through these fairs, we reach new suppliers and product groups, constantly renewing our portfolio. We work on end-consumer needs based on feedback from our customers and meet their needs with innovative active ingredients and auxiliary chemicals. Each year we develop our product groups by adding innovative, sustainable and sector-value products to our portfolio. We currently have over 400 customers in the sector, over 100 products and are managing dozens of new projects from our supplier portfolio. Additionally, we continue our efforts to expand our portfolio with over 20 new suppliers. With our new suppliers and products, we aim to reach more stakeholders in the sector.
How do you define your cosmetics and personal care portfolio and your contributions to the sector?
When creating our cosmetics product portfolio, our main focus was to create portfolio integrity suitable for the sector's sub-segments. For example, although wet wipes, detergents, disinfectants and personal care products fall under the same umbrella, they are produced with different chemical contents. To be able to offer a wide product portfolio to our customers in these sub-segments, we built a structure accordingly. At the point we have reached today, we offer our customers higher quality and functional products. In line with global trends, we incorporate innovative, ecological and functional content into product formulations together with our customers.
Could you briefly tell us about your portfolio for the pharmaceutical sector?
In the pharmaceutical field, we provide auxiliary chemicals and active ingredients to our customers who manufacture human pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicines, feed additives and food supplements. Our portfolio is constantly evolving in line with current trends and recent consumer needs. However, product continuity has always been a critical factor in this field. When developing our portfolio, we prioritize long-term partnerships in our supplier selection and relationships.
What are Elton Turkey's targets and plans for the coming period?
As Elton Turkey, in line with our strategic objectives, we aim to further strengthen our corporate structure and bring our service quality to international standards. Globally, Elton has taken a pioneering role in sustainability investments. In our Turkey operations, we are preparing to take sustainability-focused steps in parallel with this global approach. Our technology investments form the basis of our digital transformation process. By optimizing our business processes with automation and artificial intelligence-enabled systems, we aim to both increase our operational efficiency and provide faster and more flexible services to our customers. In this direction, we continuously strengthen our Turkey operations around continuous improvement and innovation axes, aiming to solidify our leading position in the sector.
Beyond all this, we regard human resources as a value we do not abandon and continue to invest in our team. We recently increased our sales team from 7 to 11 people; very soon this number will be 13. We believe that a competent sales team is necessary to be able to get closer to our customers, suppliers, the sectors we serve and the entire market, and we are conducting our plans accordingly. We are not only increasing the team quantitatively but have already included professional and technical training in our future plans to ensure that members of the new team reach necessary levels in terms of quality. Our greatest wish is for the new team we have created to serve the sector stably under the Elton Turkey umbrella for many years to come.
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