Interview with Mübahat Akın and Sema Keskin Altınoluk
BASF Care Chemicals opened the first and only Baby Care Competence Center in Turkey. In our interview, Ms. Mübahat Akın, Managing Director of Innovation Center Turkey and Head of Market Development and Sustainability Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Ms. Sema Keskin Altınoluk, Head of Regional Personal Care Turkey, Azerbaijan and Middle East, gave information about the Innovation Center and the Baby Care Competence Center opened within it.
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Mübahat Akın - Sema Keskin Altınoluk[/caption]
First, we would like to get to know you. Could you give brief information about your professional background?
Sema Keskin Altınoluk: I’ve studied chemistry at the Middle East Technical University. I’ve started my career in R&D at the National Research Institute of Turkey (TUBITAK) while I was studying Master of Science in polymers.
After further experience in R&D in the textile industry I decided to guide my career towards a position in sales and thus gained an MBA degree, which opened various perspectives for me.
I’ve started at BASF in 2008 as Account Manager responsible for detergent business in Turkey, afterwards I took over the personal care business as well to cover the regions of the Middle East and Egypt.
In 2012, I took over the leadership of the sales team and, since 2020, I have been in charge of business management for the personal care business in Turkey, the Middle East (including Egypt) and Azerbaijan.
Mübahat Akın: After graduating from Tarsus American College I got my bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. I worked at Eczacıbaşı Baxter for two years before completing my post graduate degree at the Imperial College in the United Kingdom.
I started working at BASF as Sales Manager and have since taken on many different responsibilities in executive positions covering various countries across quite a diverse set of business units and industries including automotive, refining, detergents, textile, paints, adhesives and packaging.
Since 2014, I have also been working on sustainability topics. Currently, I am the Director of Sustainability and Market Development in BASF Turkey and also coordinating Emerging Europe activities (the Middle East and Africa) in addition to my position as the Managing Director of the Innovation Center, which was launched a short time ago, which incorporates seven business units.
BASF Care Chemicals opened the first and only Baby Care Competence Center in Turkey. What are the reasons for choosing Turkey for the location of this center?
Sema Keskin Altınoluk: Turkey is an established market for BASF’s Personal Care business. Here we produce several important ingredients to serve both Turkey and the region.
We operate a personal care laboratory in the BASF Innovation Center in Istanbul that supports our customers in the region in their search for suitable solutions for their business. Accordingly, together with our marketing team, we are already acting as a service hub for our region.
Since the population in our region is experiencing a high growth rate, special attention is also needed for the youngest members of our society. The recently opened Baby Care Competence Center serves the baby care market, which is dominated by local brands, especially in Turkey.
Considering the regional circumstances and our expertise, it was a logical step for us to open the center here in Turkey.
What kind of products and technologies will the Baby Care Competence Center offer to which regions and sectors?
Sema Keskin Altınoluk: The motivation to open the Baby Care Competence Center here on site was to serve the personal care sector in this emerging region, especially in Turkey, the Middle East and Egypt.
In this center specializing in baby care, we develop formulations with sustainable and innovative ingredients suitable for baby care products such as shampoos, shower gels, body oils, creams, lotions, nappy creams, sunscreens, and wet wipes in line with regional conditions and global trends as well as the needs of our business partners.
We complement our efforts that allow us to shape the rapidly growing baby care market not only with our formulations, but also with our advanced raw materials and innovative product concepts.
At BASF Baby Care Competence Center, we analyze the effectiveness of our solutions with our state-of-the-art equipment and our own special protocols.
When it comes to babies, our most precious assets, our sensitivity to product safety increases. In this context, as a respected brand value with its long-established history, what kind of assurances can BASF give to parents? Can you evaluate it within the scope of certifications and criteria?
Sema Keskin Altınoluk: Baby skin is structurally different than adult skin. It is thinner and more sensitive and continues to develop throughout the early years of life.
This skin needs special care and protection, and providing the best solutions and care requires extensive knowledge of skin structure. An understanding of its needs and development of the most suitable products for the skin type are also necessary.
The BASF personal care portfolio includes sustainable products obtained from natural sources that can meet all these needs for baby skin.
As BASF Care Chemicals business unit, we are extremely concerned about the safety of our ingredients, which of course includes their benefits in baby care products.
We offer a wide range of ingredients for manufacturers who want to certify their products in accordance with various standards such as COSMOS, NATRUE, and ECOCERT.
This not only allows us to have a long-lasting and trusting partnership with our customers, but also gives us the opportunity to shape the market and future trends.
Especially in the baby care sector, it is important to meet the high expectations of parents and to work together with them to give our children a successful start in life.
The recently opened Baby Care Competence Center is located within the BASF Turkey Innovation Center, which has been operating since 2020. Could you give some information about the features of this innovation center and the works carried out there?
Mübahat Akın: Our Center incorporates a total of eight laboratories including those that provide services in Food Solutions, Seed Solutions, Home Care and Industrial
Cleaning, Personal Care, Engineering Plastics and Polyurethanes, Automotive Refinish Coatings, Architectural and Industrial Coatings, and our Baby Care Competence Center, which was launched recently as a first for the BASF world.
At the Center, we develop formulations aimed at meeting the needs of our customers. While doing this, we particularly take into account the geographic and cultural characteristics of our region.
As a innovation-driven company we strive to help our customers generate sustainable solutions, and the industries we provide services to this end are very diverse.
For example, in the tests we conduct for the first time in Turkey at our Seed Solutions laboratory, we control whether crop protection products are applied at the correct dose to protect the seeds against disease. Thus, we undertake efforts that highlight both the users
and environmental health.
Yet another example comes from our Automotive Refinish Coatings Training Center. Here, we strive to boost the productivity of painting processes, hold trainings on color design, product information and workflow, and provide digital solutions.
For instance, we use VR technology to deliver vehicle coating trainings without using any paint. At our Food Solutions laboratory which we called KitchenLAB, we formulate solutions that focus on pastry/bakery, ice cream, bread making for our customers in regions such as Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa, helping to meet local needs with recipes prepared specifically for the regions.
Our Center, where we engage in efforts that add value to several different industries such as these, is located in the Technopark Istanbul campus. With a design in line with green building criteria, it has environment and human-friendly features and has a LEED Gold certification.
Awareness of sustainability and circular economy is increasing day by day in Turkey as in the rest of the world. Could you give information about your approach and work as BASF on this topic?
Mübahat Akın: At BASF, we want to contribute to a world that provides a viable future with enhanced quality of life for everyone.We allocate a significant portion of our R&D budget to climate protection.
In line with our carbon management approach, we want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 25% by 2030 compared to 2018 and achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Our global investments aimed at securing the amount of renewable energy we need as a company continue at full pace. For instance, the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm, which is owned by BASF, Vattenfall and Allianz is the world’s biggest subsidy-free wind farm with 140 turbines and expected to become fully operational in 2023.
With SABIC and Linde, we have started construction of the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. By using electricity from renewable sources instead of natural gas, the new technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions of one of the most energy-intensive production processes in the chemical industry by at least 90% compared to technologies commonly used today.
With our Sustainable Solution Steering method we assess the sustainability contribution of each of our products in its specific application. For example, our products classified as “Accelerators”, are solutions that make a substantial sustainability contribution in the value chain.
In line with our Circular Economy Program, we offer products with an allocated share of renewable or recycled feedstock in line with our certified biomass balance approach.
Customers can choose these products if they want to contribute to saving fossil resources and gain a lower carbon footprint.We also offer a bio-based portfolio for multiple applications. A case in point would be our certified sustainable palm kernel oil or Rambutan based bioactives for the Personal Care market.
