Balparmak Held Meeting Under the Motto "40 Years of Benefit to the World"
Balparmak held an online meeting as part of its 40th anniversary celebration under the motto "40 Years of Benefit to the World." Speaking at the meeting, Altıparmak Food Board Chair Özen Altıparmak said, "With our current 51 percent market share, we are leading the development of the branded honey market.
Our target for 2020, our 40th year, is to reach TRY 350 million in revenue. Our long-term goal is to place Balparmak, Turkey's first branded honey, at the top among honey brands worldwide."
Since its establishment, Balparmak has brought natural, healthy and tested honey to tables. On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, it held an online press meeting hosted by Altıparmak Food Board Chair Özen Altıparmak.
At the meeting organized under the motto "40 Years of Benefit to the World," Altıparmak emphasized that they work with the mission of preserving the naturalness and purity of honey and bee products, the most miraculous food in the world, while bringing them to their rightful highest value, and also shared their vision for the future.
"We grew 30 percent in 2019"
Altıparmak Food Board Chair Özen Altıparmak, underlining that Balparmak is Turkey's first branded honey, stated that they have been Turkey's leading honey brand since 1989. Saying that Balparmak currently holds a 51 percent market share, Altıparmak said, "In 2019, we achieved TRY 300 million in revenue and USD 2.3 million in exports, growing 30 percent. Our target for 2020, our 40th year, is to reach TRY 350 million in revenue. Additionally, maintaining our market leadership, increasing our export volume and becoming an authority in the field of honey and bee products are among our other important targets. Our long-term goal is to place Balparmak, Turkey's first branded honey, at the top among honey brands worldwide." Altıparmak said that the Balparmak brand has always been associated with trust and quality since its establishment, stating, "For 40 years we have carefully selected domestic honeys within the scope of food safety and hygiene. For us, food safety and hygiene are both our business and our responsibility; our most important mission is to ensure that natural and healthy honey reaches tables no matter what." "We believe we will reach our export target of 3 million dollars. Our plan is to enter new markets such as the Middle East and North America in the coming period" Underlining that Balparmak is Turkey's largest branded honey exporter, Altıparmak said the following regarding exports: "Last year we achieved USD 2.3 million in exports. This year, despite the pandemic process, we continued our work without slowing down, and we believe we will reach our export target of 3 million dollars. Since 1994 we have been exporting to countries such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, China, Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan. In addition to our pine and flower honeys, we are bringing our ApiteraZen, ApiteraUp and ApiteraMind, Katla Balla and BallıMix products to consumers abroad. In Europe, besides stores selling local and gourmet products, we are now also on the shelves of chain markets. In the coming period, we aim to enter new markets such as the Middle East and North America particularly with our value-added and functional products, and to expand our presence in national retail chains in European countries."104 beekeepers who trained at Balparmak Beekeeping Academy received their certificates
Özen Altıparmak emphasized that Balparmak is responsible not only to consumers but also to the beekeepers they have worked hand-in-hand with for 40 years and to the beekeeping profession. In this context, Altıparmak recalled that they are conducting work on supporting honey and bee product producers, encouraging them to develop new products, informing them and evaluating their efforts and products, and shared the following information about the Balparmak Beekeeping Academy, one of these projects: "In our country, beekeeping is practiced as a 'traditional craft.' However, the younger generation is not very eager to continue their fathers' profession. Women are also not turning to this profession. All of these pose a major risk to the sustainability of the beekeeping profession. Furthermore, the production of bee products such as bee pollen, pollen and propolis, which have higher economic value compared to honey, is not at a sufficient level. Starting from all these findings, in 2018 with the contributions of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), we established the Balparmak Beekeeping Academy at our facility in Ula district of Muğla. At the Academy, 104 prospective beekeepers, including 52 women, who successfully completed both theoretical and practical training as well as distance education, received a BALDER (Healthy Living Platform with Bee Products) certificate and were given two bee hives to take their first steps in the profession. Our Academy continues to work actively. Additionally, we reach female and young prospective beekeepers who cannot come to the Academy through a mobile training vehicle, providing similar training in their villages. At the same time, with the mobile vehicle we visit the apiaries of existing beekeepers to share the latest developments in beekeeping with them. Anyone interested can participate in our distance training programs, which are a first in Turkey's beekeeping sector, by registering on the "Balparmak Beekeeping Academy" page on the Balparmak website.""Where There Are Bees, There Is a Future" - Reaching 70,000 People
Board Chair Özen Altıparmak said they consider it their duty to raise awareness in society about the contributions of bees to nature and community life. Describing how they implemented the "Where There Are Bees, There Is a Future" project last year in cooperation with TEMA Foundation and the Ministry of National Education to raise awareness about the importance of bees to nature and humans, the contribution of bees to the ecosystem and what can be done to protect them, Altıparmak said, "As part of the project, we provide training to 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students in primary schools about the importance of bees. In addition to awareness activities we will carry out in the provinces where the project is implemented, we will reach more people through bike tours titled "Following the Bees" and the website www.arilarvarsa.org. Under the project, last year we reached 5,300 children in 136 schools in 30 provinces. By the end of our three-year project, we aim to reach 70,000 people in total, of which 46,500 will be children, across 50 provinces." Recalling that demand for natural products supporting immunity and with health benefits such as honey and propolis has increased since the beginning of the pandemic process, Board Chair Özen Altıparmak said they continued uninterrupted production at all stages from packaging to distribution with increasing attention to food safety and hygiene, which was already at the highest level before the pandemic. Altıparmak stated that the internationally valid Covid-19 Safe Production Certificate they received in July was a result of these efforts and that sales of products such as honey and propolis have also increased with the pandemic process. At the meeting, films prepared for the 40th year anniversary titled "Those Who Benefit the World" were also shown. The journey of the beekeeping profession, requiring dedication and hard work, was presented for viewers' appreciation through films featuring the stories of Arzu Aldemir, who has been beekeeping for 35 years in the harsh conditions of Kars; Mehmet Çağatay, who continues the beekeeping profession in the difficult geographical conditions of Bingöl; and Kırşehir beekeeper Fatih Aydoğdu and his son Zekeriya.Balparmak - Those Who Benefit the World 40th Year Advertisement Films:
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