We had a pleasant interview with Azelis Turkey’s Industrial Chemicals Business Unit Director, Ms. Burcu Gezegen. Gezegen shared with us valuable information about Azelis, which operates in more than 40 countries.
Could you please tell our readers about yourself, your educational background and your professional background in the chemical industry?
I have been in the chemical industry for about 15 years. I started my career in the sales department at Rhodia (Solvay) in 2008. I first worked as a sales representative, then as a sales manager. In 2011, I became the sales manager of the Chemicals department at Azelis Turkey. Since 2015, I have been working as the Commercial Director of Azelis Turkey Industrial Chemicals, managing all the sectors in this business unit. I have an undergraduate degree from Istanbul University International Relations department and a
master’s degree in International Trade from Nanterre University in France. I have also completed Sabancı University Executive MBA Program in 2017.
Could you please tell us about the development of Azelis Turkey from its foundation to today?
Azelis is a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients present in over 40 countries across the globe with around 2,000 employees. Azelis entered in the Turkish market in 2007 by acquiring Tara Kimya. In 2019, Azelis Turkey continued to grow with the acquisition of Ekin Kimya, one of the leading chemical suppliers to pharmaceutical, laboratory and food sectors in Turkey.
We offer innovative solutions to customers in the food, pharma, laboratory, personal care, asphalt, paint, construction, detergent, rubber, plastic and agricultural sectors with an extensive product portfolio. We are not only the representative of the world’s leading chemical manufacturers, but also work as a long-term strategic partner to our customers, offering innovative products to our markets, thereby playing a role in the development of the industries. Our expert team has strong previous experience in their sectors, and in-depth product and market knowledge.
Azelis has an extensive network of more than 60 application laboratories around the world. This enables us to provide technical and business consultancy to our customers and contribute to their business development efforts from product improvement to cost and
process optimization, from innovative formulations to new market ideas.
What are the products and product categories you offer to the paint industry? Which sectors do you serve?
As Azelis CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants & Elastomers) department, we supply to various sectors a broad selection of specialty as well as commodity raw materials such as resins, binders, pigments, additives, hardeners, biocides, filling materials.
Our specialty products provide colour, durability and performance to the formulations of automotive, construction, industrial paint, wood-furniture paint, building chemical, adhesives, printing ink industries. Today, manufacturers aim to produce more environmentally friendly products in order to minimize their negative effects on the environment and meet end users demand in this area. As a result, industry has more
interest in dyes with low VOC and heavy metal-free products. Market share of environmentally friendly water-based systems is also on the rise. Thanks to the
specialty chemicals and functional products in Azelis portfolio, we can offer our customers innovative ideas and customized solutions also in these fast-developing areas.
Could you please evaluate the development of the paint industry in Turkey? What is the importance of the Turkish market for Azelis?
Our country is the 5th largest paint producer in Europe. In addition to being a major paint manufacturer, it is moving towards becoming a powerful player in its region with its continuously increasing production and strengthened technological infrastructure. As Azelis, we rely on the potential in Turkey and continue our investments. In this context, a few months ago, we opened our CASE formulation laboratory to serve the paint, coating, adhesive and building chemicals sectors in Istanbul.
We fully believe that Turkey will maintain its importance in the region as a production
base and will regain its growth momentum with her young population who are prone to innovation and new technologies. As Azelis Turkey, we will continue to contribute to the growth of our customers with innovative products and grow organically as well as through acquisitions.
Could you please tell us about the services provided by CASE formulation laboratory that Azelis has recently opened in Turkey and how it will contribute to the industry?
Our formulation laboratories are our strongest initiative, where we fulfill our commitment to “innovation through formulation” as Azelis. With the work we do here in cooperation with our customers and suppliers, we produce innovative ideas and create new commercial opportunities. Our CASE laboratory in Istanbul provides innovative ideas, new products, growing businesses, speed and convenience for both our suppliers and customers. Here we offer technical support in many areas such as product performance trials, formulation development and optimization.
I wish to give a few examples of the applications in our formulation laboratory. We measure the adhesion, wear resistance, gloss of binders, fillers and additives used in decorative interior and exterior products. For floor and metal coating products, together with
our customers, we develop formulations, carry performance tests such as adhesion, corrosion resistance, hardness, impact resistance, and determine the value added by different raw materials to the formulation.
Could you please share the points that Azelis attaches importance to in the field of sustainability and its work?
As Azelis, we are certified as Platinum by EcoVadis, one of the leading global rating agencies on social responsibility. Our sustainability actions are gathered under four main titles: people / employees, sustainable procurement/innovative products, environment
and management. Last year, we shared our ”Action 2025” sustainability strategy with our suppliers and customers, and we will publish the second sustainability report soon. As Azelis, we support our suppliers’ initiatives in the area of sustainability, while we also
support our customers’ sustainability goals by providing environmentally friendly products for their formulations.
I would like to inform you about one of the initiatives in the comprehensive sustainability strategy of Azelis. This is an action that I personally feel for. One of Azelis 2025 sustainability “people” goals is to have women hold one-third of the senior executive positions globally in the company. I am happy to say that Azelis Turkey has achieved and passed this goal today. 75% of our management team consists of women. Another
example is a project supporting young women in their career paths, which we have developed and implemented in cooperation with a Turkish NGO. We also plan to implement various social responsibility initiatives aiming to empower women and young people in 2022.
What are your predictions and goals for 2022?
One of our priority objectives this year is to launch Azelis Turkey Digital Customer Portal through which we will provide online sales, technical support and self-service product development opportunities to our customers. All at a single service point. On this digital
platform, our customers will find inspiration for their new products with the concepts offered by our team. They will be able to develop new formulations in our e-lab using the Azelis product database, access the technical documents they need; place orders, request
samples and ask their questions live to our sales team. Our goal is to make the lives of our customers and suppliers easier, and to further increase the speed and quality of our service through digitalization. In addition, we will continue our trainings within the scope of Azelis Turkey Academy in 2022. We will meet our customers at online seminars until limitations of the pandemic come to an end. Then, we will very be very happy to host them face-to-face for technical presentations and workshops in our CASE formulation laboratory.
