Syngenta Flowers Adds Value to Your Production

This article is published first in Plant Dergisi in Turkish. Türkçe oku.

We talked with Can Cahit Erol about the ornamental business sector and Syngenta Flowers in Turkey. Syngenta provides services in many countries of the world with its 150 years of experience. Seeing Turkey's potential, Syngenta Flowers adds value to the flower industry with its renewed organization, launched a year ago.

Mr. Can, let's get to know you first, what are your duties in Syngenta Flowers?

"I work as a Key Account Manager in Syngenta Flower company, I am the authorized and responsible person in the sales organization of Syngenta Flowers Turkey. I manage our distributors and grower relations. Establishing long and short-term sales plans for our company, determining new sales channels, adding new products to the market, etc. I am responsible for the new product introductions in this market, based on trials done here in Turkey."

"Our Flowers Seeds head quarters is located in The Netherlands. In close coordination with our Dutch office, I organize all Syngenta Flowers' activities in Turkey."

"I am part of the Business International team at Syngenta Flowers. In our team there are countries and regions with high sales potential due to a high uptake of flowers by consumers and governments. Besides Turkey, you can think of countries like China, Russia, Latin American countries, and India. All our commercial activities in these countries are managed by our Business International team.

What can you tell us about the experience of Syngenta in the agricultural industry?

"Syngenta is one of the most established and well organized agricultural firms in the world. We are active in field crops, vegetables and flowers with seeds and crop protection products. In our ornamental industry, we sell seeds, seedlings and unrooted cuttings. As Syngenta we are the company with the largest product range. We have many series in annual perennial in both seeds and cuttings varieties. But also in garden plants and pot plants, like cyclamen, ponsettia, chrysanthemum and many more crops. We are the only company that has all of the important pot and bedding products you can think of, in the highest quality!"

"We continue to be the pioneer in the flower sector in terms of quality, by carrying out extensive Research & Development programs. We use the newest technologies to develop our new varieties. Our production facilities are located in different climates. Next to our site in Bursa, Turkey, we have production sites in Kenia, Guatemala and other countries.

Our brand promise is to bring the potential of plants to life. We do this to secure global food production. Our 49,000 employees in more than 100 countries work for the optimal growth of plants with world-class scientific and innovative solutions. I can say that our work as a company is dedicated to protecting the fertility of our agricultural lands, nourishing biodiversity and fostering life in the countryside.

Syngenta's experience with seeds goes back over 150 years. Syngenta speaks the language of plants and realizes their potential. Bringing Plant Potential to Life is the mission statement of our company. In order to achieve this goal, we at Syngenta aim to achieve success by sharing our knowledge and experience with growers. And we do this through our employees, so our customers receive our knowledge through our employees around the world."

Turkey's flower potential is high

"Syngenta's commercial office in Turkey is located in Izmir. We also have a seed production center in Bursa that is part of Syngenta Flowers. Our flower seed production facility is located in Bursa's Mustafakemalpaşa district. Here we produce our seeds for winter crops. This is an important product range for Syngenta, such as Viola, Pansy, Cyclamen, Ranunculus and Primula. In Bursa, in more than 30 villages on the outskirts of Uludağ, we have been producing seed production with nearly 700 producers for 30 years. With these facilities, we provide an important source of income for the people in the region. This is very important for us, because supporting rural development and providing technical support to producers in certain regions to increase product quality makes great contributions to both the region and the sector. 

The high quality seeds produced in Bursa are subjected to quality testing, and then sent to our center in the Netherlands. From there, they are packed and distributed to all countries of the world. The Seed production colleagues in Turkey are part of our supply chain operation. As Key Account Manager, I am part of the commercial organization. But of course, we are able to coordinate and collaborate when necessary."

"Turkey is a very important country for us. Not only because it has an active and energetic population, stunning climate and huge tourism potential, but also due to the fact that it has 4 seasons. As Syngenta Flowers, we are a team of people who do their job with great passion and enthusiasm. In this sense, Turkey is a great potential that harbors our values.

We are very active in the market. We reach out to growers, cooperatives, municipalities, garden centers and other retail partners. We regularly visit, listen to problems, and try to find solutions. It is our strategic aim to share our knowledge, strength and experience with the whole Turkish flower sector in the years to come."

Leading company in flowers

Syngenta is globally a leading company in pot and bedding plants, and we aim to reach this point in a short time in Turkey as well. We made tremendous progress in the past two years. We want to continue our success for many years with a long-term vision and a sustainable organization, by taking firm steps to strengthen our position. Currently, we distribute our products in Turkey via Istanbul Tohumculuk, one of Turkey's well-established seed distributors, which is our main distributor. 

Bayçikoop, which produces seedlings from our cyclamen varieties, is our other distributor. They are also following our hot climate trials of our new varieties, that we will introduce to the market.

Our customers can supply our company's one-year and perennial ornamental plant seeds, unrooted cuttings and young plants from Istanbul Tohumculuk. The vegetative assortment from our Syngenta Flowers and Varinova brands are brought to the market via Bayındır Flower Producers Cooperative (Bayçikoop).

 

How do you evaluate the ornamental plants sector in Turkey? How did you spend the pandemic period?

"With municipalities declining purchases in the field of landscaping, the market has contracted. Compared to three years ago, we see that this market demand has seriously shrunk. But there is also a positive side. Flowers have become more indispensable for Turkish consumers. People now buy more flowers to look at in their garden and on their balcony. I see that they ttruly have become an important part of every household. In this sense, the production of potted flowers is increasing and we see that the demand for these products is increasing day by day. Especially the pandemic had a positive effect at this point for the ornamental business. Because people spent more time in their homes and gardens. This has increased the demand for flowers."

Flower is an important consumable item for households in Turkey?

Yes, definitively! Flowers have now become an important consumer item for Turkish households. The future of the industry is very bright in this respect. This is one of the reasons why Syngenta Flowers Turkey was established. The flower industry in Turkey is becoming professional and making progress every day. So much so that we re-entered Turkey as Syngenta Flowers even during the pandemic. The fact that the world's most important flower company invested here at a time when many adversities were experienced, shows the trust we have in Turkey. We are satisfied, a year has passed and we started in the most difficult period. Curfews started a month after I took office and lasted for about 3 months. Despite the negativities experienced, we are moving forward with firm steps on our way. We do not have the slightest worry about the future.

At Syngenta Flowers, our aim is to color and beautify cities and places with our best-in-class quality genetics. At the same time, we think that flowers have a serious mental contribution to our society during the difficult pandemic process we are going through. Syngenta Flowers continues on its way with firm steps by strengthening its customers and growers who decide to use our genetics. We invite our entire industry to join the energy of Syngenta Flowers!