HasTavuk: latest premieres on the Turkish poultry processing market

Internationally successful Turkish company HasTavuk is known for the production of hatching eggs, day-old chicks used for rearing both broilers and layers.
Some years ago the company decided to start processing broilers themselves. After intensive research and visiting several companies all over the world HasTavuk decided to grant Marel Stork Poultry Processing to design, build and deliver the installation for their poultry processing plant. The greenfield project with an initial capacity of 12,500 bph. is situated in the North Western part of Turkey, near Bursa, and unique of its kind in the Turkish poultry processing industry. “If we decide to invest in such a large project we only go for the best”, says Mr. Nejat Sezer (Deputy president of board of director). “It became clear that Stork Poultry Processing was the best partner to offer the high quality solution we are looking for. If you see how professionally they approach this project. It gave us confidence for the future and we are now building one strong team.
Choosing top quality
The new HasTavuk facility near Bursa is large and houses the best that is available for high capacity broiler processing. The plant is designed and built around various processes. Every choice was made based on the criterion ‘quality’. Mr. Sezer says: “the best hygiene, best products with the best taste and the highest shelf life for us is what we aim for. We always want to control every step in the whole production chain. With our greenfield we realize this. We have our consumers in mind. They will only want to buy the best available products at a good price.”
First AeroScalder for Turkey
The new HasTavuk plant is unique in several ways. HasTavuk is the first Turkish company that bought the all new Stork AeroScalder, again a conscious choice for quality. Mr. Nejat Sezer says: “the AeroScalder is very attractive for us. Of course we save a lot of energy and water, which is good for the environment. But most important is the fact that scalding is cleaner. We do not have to immerse our products into the scalding water. Products stay cleaner during scalding because of the use of moisturized hot air. There is no cross contamination during scalding. It’s another step towards a cleaner process.” Mr. Sezer adds: “I think this new way of scalding is important for our national and international customers. To all our own and our surrounding cultures that pay extra attention to a cleaner process and the ‘’ Helal ‘’ production of the AeroScalder that can be beneficial.”

 
Premiere: form follows function
With the design of their processing plant HasTavuk had the opportunity to allocate certain steps of the process to certain areas. ‘Clean’ and ‘dirty’ parts of the process could be strictly separated to optimize product hygiene and quality. The operators enter their working areas from different sides and the rendering plant is situated away from the main building; everything is optimized to benefit process and product in the best possible way. The building has been designed with the help from Marel Stork, based on decades of global experience in realizing greenfield projects.
First tenderness management program
Another premiere on the Turkish poultry processing market is the tenderness management program. This combines electro stimulation (rapid rigor) with maturation chilling. A maturation chill tunnel both chills and tenderizes. It is a two-stage, multi-tier system: in the first stage birds are chilled rapidly to inhibit the growth of bacteria. Moisture is applied to the products surfaces to keep weight loss to a minimum and to help the chill process, which uses very cold air at very high velocities. In a second, longer stage, birds are chilled slowly, using less cold air at lower velocities to speed up protolithic breakdown. Results are: Optimum tenderness and product presentation, inhibited bacteria growth and minimum weight loss.