Barhan Food, sweet and sweetening

Barhan Food is a recognized supplier of chocolatebased products and dried and preserved fruits with a successful history. Gokay Barut of Barhan food company answered the questions of Food Turkey’s special issue for Anuga Food Fair.
Excerpts follow:
Who is Barhan Food company?
It has been active for 25 years in Hasanaga, Bursa, in the production of processed food and chocolate, mainly as a supplier for a number of private brands, that were sold both domestically and in export markets.
What are in your product portfolio?
We have two separate factories and production lines; one for chocolate-based products the other one is for dried or preserved fruits. From time to time, we produce innovative products by combining the ability of these two facilities.

What is the position of your chocolate products in the market? What are your expectations for these products?
We open our factory and R&D kitchen to our customers for developing new varieties they may be interested in. Thanks to this flexible approach, we can offer our customers what they want to have. There are many other kinds and brands of creamy chocolate products in the world. We depend on our quality to compete with them. Our products that are sold under Sokomigo, Migonella and other private brand names, all liked by consumers. Our traditional premium fruit preserves are also demanded both in Turkey and in abroad. They even become a brand in Japan.
The quality of our products are strictly controlled in conformity of the quality certificates we have, including ISO 9000 and ISO 22999 and BRC that we were given last year. We can produce 6 thousand tons of fruit preserves and 20 thousand tons of chocolate products.
How are your exports?
In 2008 we have organized a team for foreign trade. In the first year, we reached to 30 countries and developed cooperation depending on our experience in production processes. Many of the contracts are active. Our sales are increasing to Japan, Far Eastern, Middle Eastern countries, in the USA and to other countries in Africa and in Europe. About 70 percent of our production is exported to more than 60 countries.
What are your plans for the future?
We have a young, efficient and transparent team who maintain high level of customer relationship in all stages of the manufacturing process. Customers are invited to visit our plants, exchange their views about new products and possibilities, thus a certain level of loyalty has been obtained. We aim to develop our businesses further in innovative products by offering new tastes to the consumers in the world. We try to facilitate and speed up all the processes in the future.
Any other comments?
It was thought that every success has its secrets. Our secret is our transparency. Thanks to this, we can produce more variety by combining our experiences in the factory with changing demands of the markets. These are important.