Interview with Kartal Kanat, General Manager of Kartal Kimya

In our interview with Kartal Kimya General Manager Kartal Kanat, we discussed the company's development process, its current position and its significant share in the feed additives sector.

Could you tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background?

Since I have been involved in this business with my father since childhood, I completed my Chemical Engineering degree at Illinois Institute of Technology between 1991 and 1995. Illinois Institute of Technology Since the production department of the factory is the most important area requiring focus, I wanted to develop myself in this field and completed my Industrial Engineering degree at International American University in 1996. At Kartal Kimya, I started as technical director of the production department, and after working in the core of the business, I pursued an MBA at Yeditepe University to develop my management knowledge. I began my career at Kartal Kimya and continue as General Manager of the company.

Could you describe the development processes Kartal Kimya has experienced from its establishment to today?

Kartal Kimya was founded in 1985 by my father Yusuf Kanat. The purpose of its establishment was to contribute to the country's economy with a domestic company. At this point, I would like to discuss my father's career. Yusuf Kanat began his career in the feed additives sector in 1969 in the Laboratory department at Roche. In 1972, he established the Veterinary Medicine, Aroma and Feed Additives department within Roche for the first time in Turkey, and managed this department until his retirement in 1984. In 1985, with the goal of using this accumulated knowledge to contribute to the development of Turkish animal husbandry, he founded Kartal Kimya in Levent Auto Industry. In 1990, as the rapidly growing company expanded its workforce, he moved the office division to Maslak. However, Yusuf Kanat, aiming to advance our animal husbandry by adopting European technologies and improving the quality of feed additives, made a major investment in 1995 and rebuilt our production facility with the highest technology in Europe and Turkey in Gebze Organized Industrial Zone, where it is located today. Shortly after, evaluating the advantages of offices and production units working together, he moved the office to this site in 2000. With Kartal Kimya, Yusuf Kanat introduced Turkey to amino acids, antioxidants and enzymes for the first time. Today, as a memento, we preserve significant sections of our first factory like a museum within our facility.

What are your products and what needs prompted your product diversification?

Since its establishment, it has become one of the most important players in the animal health and feed additives sector through its financial strength, production capacity, vision, entrepreneurial structure and innovative products. With Turkey's largest and most advanced technology production facility, it is the best in the Balkans and the Middle East. Our factory at Kartal Kimya has been built entirely by Bühler with the latest technology. It holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FAMI-QS certifications with micro-dosing, product traceability, fully automatic packaging, kraft bags, and quality control laboratory systems. Kartal Kimya's product range consisting of feed additives includes: vitamin and mineral premixes for all animal species, water-soluble vitamin and mineral premixes, colorants, antioxidants and preservatives, prebiotics and probiotics, enzymes, toxin binders, antioxidants, amino acids, farm solution products group, premixes with veterinary medicines, phytotherapeutics and natural herbal premixes.

What stages are involved in producing high-quality premixes? How do you define the effects of premixes on animal health?

Kartal Kimya currently has the most modern production facility in Gebze Organized Industrial Zone, with foundations laid in 1995, in Turkey and Europe. The physical reason for Kartal Kimya products being innovative and high-quality is our production facility, built by Bühler. Kartal Kimya conducts production with a fully automatic system. In addition to large and medium-scale silos containing vitamin and mineral raw materials, with the micro-dosing unit, which is the first in Turkey to be housed within Kartal Kimya, we can weigh very precise vitamin and additive groups down to 200 grams. Premixes are packaged with 100 percent homogenization without contamination at every stage of the process from weighing to packaging, and prepared for shipment. Our production facility and laboratory are always open to those who wish to visit. The main goal of modern animal nutrition is to ensure animals are fed with adequate, balanced and reliable feed and to produce reliable animal products for humans. To achieve this goal, feed additives and premixes are commonly used in animal feed. Previously, feed additives were defined as substances other than naturally occurring feeds or artificially obtained nutrients that were added to rations at low levels for animals' meat, milk, wool, hair, mohair and egg production. Later, according to experts in the field, enriched feeds; feeds enriched with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, protein extracts and nitrogen sources, supplemented with aroma correctives, appetite stimulants and plant extracts to improve feed quality, containing antioxidants and mold prevention substances to prevent deterioration during production and storage stages, mixed feed types prepared using binders, stabilizers, emulsifiers, anti-caking agents and similar substances as a requirement of technological applications during production stages were classified as fortified feeds. In our country, feed producers increasingly use appropriate feed additives and premixes in the context of converting more feed into products and utilizing it more efficiently.

What activities do you conduct to control the quality standards of your products?

To control the quality standards of products we produce at Kartal Kimya, we conduct analyses in our own in-house laboratory. For quality control, in the Kartal Kimya laboratory, we test 6 times on 1,500 kg of each batch of products, and we retain a copy of each analyzed sample for one year. Samples are taken from each production run to verify compliance with label values, confirm that unwanted substances are below limits, and tests are conducted on vitamin stability, product homogenization tests to establish performance evaluation criteria. Each incoming raw material is analyzed for compliance with specifications, and the quality of products and raw materials is evaluated against their standards.

Your product samples are retained for 1 year; what is the main purpose here?

We keep them as reference samples to investigate complaints from our customers and possible effects on animals.

What do you attribute your products' market share and quality to?

We are a company that has made it our mission to ensure customer satisfaction by producing healthy, reliable and high-quality products through our innovative approach and high-level technological infrastructure. Since 1985, we have been a company that has guided the feed additives sector. The most important reason for this is that Yusuf Kanat has accumulated tremendous knowledge and experience in both technical knowledge of products and was among the first pioneers who introduced feed additives to Turkey. Today, he has touched almost everyone holding important positions in the feed additives sector in some way. The fact that our production facility has been built with technology that still has no equal in Turkey supports our production quality at the highest level. However, it should also be noted that our premixes are created through our expert workforce in animal nutrition and years of accumulated experience. A high amount of one element can cause a deficiency of another element. For this reason, only the use of a premix mixed in the correct proportions will allow you to achieve positive results. In recent years, almost all of the major global players who have branded themselves in the feed additives field have entered the market with their own headquarters in Turkey. Many companies have been sold to foreign brands, and some have come under the wing of these brands. Kartal Kimya is today a company with entirely Turkish investment and has always remained among the top three companies in the market for 32 years.

Which countries do you export your products to most, and what do you consider when conducting exports?

Kartal Kimya manages all export operations from its Gebze headquarters. With our Kavimix brand, we have been actively exporting since 2010. Although the countries to which we export have changed in some years due to political or personal reasons, we export to Eurasian countries. However, the region where we work most intensively is the Turkic Republics.

What quality certificates do you hold? How do you define the importance of quality certificates for feed and food safety principles?

The certificates we hold are ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and FAMI-QS. The purpose of these certificates is to ensure safe feed production without compromising on quality, apply HACCP and hygiene rules with closed systems untouched by hands, ensure measurements are taken, reduce risks that could compromise the quality of additives and premixes entering the feed chain, and ensure this is maintained at a high standard level.

What are your environmental policies for future generations?

Kartal Kimya Production Facility has once again emphasized the importance it attaches to the environment and sustainable living by receiving the "Environmentally Friendly Facility Award" within the scope of its sustainable waste management policies, environment-friendly practices and investments in this area. Kartal Kimya, which holds ISO-14001 Environmental Management System Certification, ISO-9001, FAMI-QS and Environmental Permission Certificate, controls its environmental impacts at every stage from the purchasing process to products released to the market. With sustainable waste management policies applied for environmental protection, the company primarily aims to reduce waste at its source, and by separately collecting waste at the source and recovering it through appropriate methods, ensures the disposal of waste.

Could you tell us about your new projects and new technologies you aim to use?

Following and applying developing production technologies form our priority investment plan. We never say "we have a factory, we just produce anyway." For example, if technology changes in packaging, we immediately adapt to the new one. In this way, we can stand behind our words on "latest technology." Our laboratory equipment is another area of investment for us. You can see our sensitivity to quality in our laboratory. All products we produce at Kartal Kimya have their quality control conducted in our own laboratory, tested 6 times on 1,500 kg of each batch of products. We also retain a copy of each analyzed sample for one year. For example, with the ICP-OES device we recently added to our laboratory, we analyze all elements and heavy metals contained in premixes and minerals at the ppb level. This year, we are focused on solution products. Global trends are developing toward reducing medication use and feeding animals correctly and preventatively. For this reason, we have many studies aimed at preventing frequently encountered health problems through nutrition. For example, our Karbio brand is the first group of our solution products for farm animals. Formulas we have developed for special situations frequently encountered in farm animals, such as foot diseases, heat stress, and transition period feeding. Our goal is to always present innovative products—it is essential for the future.