Turkey Positioned as Net Exporter in Enzymes

Turkey in Exporter Position in Enzymes An enzyme production facility established with Turkey's first-ever permits is supporting the country's strengthening in this field. Production at the facility meets Turkey's needs while also generating exports. In the near term, Turkey is planning to fully meet its annual USD 150 million enzyme imports domestically. The facility, which began operations two years ago as Turkey's first enzyme factory in the Tuzla Organized Industrial Zone, has opened the door to localization of USD 150 million in annual enzyme imports. At LIVZYM Biotechnology production facility, established with Turkey's first-ever permits in the history of the Republic, both domestic demand is being met and exports are being made.   LIVZYM Biotechnology founder Serdar Uysal stated that very few producers exist in this field globally, and noted that Livzym holds the sole producer position in this region. Uysal noted that biotechnology, a technological field where biology is applied technologically, has approximately USD 350 billion market size globally, and stated that it has two main pillars, saying, "These are fields built on Recombinant DNA and precision fermentation technologies. Within these are the production of probiotics, amino acids, vitamins and also enzymes."

We Are the Sole Producer in This Region

Emphasizing that enzymes are one of the most challenging applications of biotechnology, Serdar Uysal stated that Turkey imports USD 150 million in this field and that the sector regionally has a market size of USD 2 billion, saying, "It is a business area that can only be created in very few places worldwide, very few producers exist, and no producer exists in this region. Livzym holds the sole producer position in this region."

The permits obtained by Livzym are the first permits obtained in the history of the Turkish Republic Emphasizing that this field is regulated through very rigorous processes, Uysal said, "The permits obtained by Livzym are the first permits obtained in the history of the Turkish Republic. We received very serious support from the public and bureaucracy on this matter.

The first permits we obtained are published in the Official Gazette, and thus with this support, on this path we have opened, when someone wishes to obtain a permit with similar technologies after us, we now have a very clear roadmap," he said. From Countries We Imported Enzymes From, We Today Export Enzymes To

Speaking about the work at the facility, Uysal said, "We built the facility with our own know-how, we had to start at a somewhat smaller scale. We started at a level that would meet a portion of Turkey's needs. We have currently increased the facility from 60,000 liters to 160,000 liters, and by year-end we are scaling it up to approximately 500,000 liters.

This means a capacity that could meet half of Turkey's imports. Not only domestically but we are also exporting fifty-fifty. Turkey today exports enzymes to European countries from which it has imported enzymes for 50 years," he said.

Enzymes Can Be a Solution to Food Crisis

Drawing attention to the fact that enzymes could serve as a partial solution to a potential food crisis in the near future, Uysal said, "Because our company has solved 4 stages consisting of strengthening microorganisms in enzyme production, strengthening fermentation production processes, establishing factories at industrial scale to enable material production with developed microorganisms, and then production, within the next 10 years we position Livzym as a hub for the production of fermentation products entering green food technologies expected to reach USD 300 billion market size.

By producing enzymes we can contribute to increasing food supply. We are fulfilling the mission of being a base for creating economic value globally with these products," he said. We are working on alternative protein applications

Stating that the alternative protein market is expected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2050, Uysal emphasized that Turkey capturing even a 10 percent share of this market would be very important. Uysal said, "If Turkey captures a 10 percent share, it would create USD 100 billion in economic value. My team and I on one hand are meeting Turkey's needs in enzyme production, and on the other hand are working on alternative protein applications." Stressing that they possess a competency that very few countries globally have, Uysal said, "Plant-based meats need to be the same quality and same experience as normal meats so that people eat them instead of animal meat. You achieve the taste with enzymes, we can have microorganisms produce the protein that gives meat its appearance. Turkey may not engage in non-animal milk, egg, meat production but can play a very significant role in the production of proteins that will go into these. We possess a competency that very few countries globally have," he said.