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Interview with Gardenkoala from Turkey

For more than 10 years Anthura works with Gardenkoala, a Turkish production company and grower of many types of pot plants. We spoke to Enes Kahya, manager of Orchid and Anthurium production.

Can you tell us something about yourself?
Ever since my childhood when I lived in the little village Samalil, in central Syria, near the city of Homs, I have been interested in plants and the pests that infect them. My ambition was to become an agronomist. I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering in 2001 from the Al Baath University, Syria. And later, in 2010, I got a doctorate in Plant Pathology from China Agricultural University, Beijing.

I worked in Syria as a researcher in fungal plant diseases at the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research until 2012. Since 2013, I’ve been working with the Garden & Koala family as a plant protection specialist and later, in 2014, as the manager of Orchid and Anthurium production.

It is a great opportunity to work in a field that I feel passionate about.

Can you tell us something about the company’s history?
The company was established in 1987 near the city of Adana and began producing ornamental plants in a greenhouse with an area of under 5,000 square meters. Today, it has reached 120,000 square meters of greenhouses, of which 10,000 square meters are glasshouses. With an additional open-air production area of around 100,000 square meters, it produces around 10 million plants per year.

In 2010, the company built the first greenhouse for orchid production on an area of 5,000 square meters, becoming the first to introduce orchid cultivation in Turkey. The most recent orchid house was built in 2020, bringing the orchid production area to a total of 18,000 square meters.

The company has nine plastic greenhouses and two glasshouses, and each one has an environmental control system and special settings that help to ensure the optimum climatic conditions for producing a variety of ornamental plants.

The orchid greenhouses have a screen system (two inside and one outside), vents, pad-fan system, mechanical cooling system, fogging system, heating system, supplemental light system, CO2 fertilizing system and UV and Reverse Osmosis disinfection and purifier systems.

Garden ve Koala, that aims to follow production processes that respect both nature and people, is the first potted ornamental plant producer in Turkey entitled to receive MPS certificates (MPS-GAP, MPS-SQ, MPS-ABC).

Can you tell us something about the current structure of your company and the developments in recent years?
Gardenkoala Company is a family company with five partners. Ahmet Korhan Cicek is the chairman of the board; vice-chairman of the board A. Fatih Cicek looks after the general management, in addition to managing the marketing and sales department; and Hasan Ergoren is the deputy general manager and director of imports and exports.

The general manager is responsible for managing orchid and Anthurium production, other pot-plant production, purchasing and sales, technical matters, accounting and finance, and human resources.

The company has around 250 employees, including engineers, technicians, administrators and other workers.

Our company is privileged to have a sales hall with an area of 14,000 square meters that provides services to wholesalers, retailers, and ordinary customers, in addition to which there is a special section for online marketing.

What kind of products do you have?
The company mainly produces indoor plants, along with a few outdoor plants. In total, we produce more than 50 different kinds of ornamental plants in four main groups per year. The customer demand plays an important role and a timely delivery service is important to us.

From left to right: Anthura Linz, Anthura Grosseto, Anthura Bolzano, Anthura Salta, Anthura Santiago

Besides orchids, we also grow both green and flowering houseplants, succulents, kalanchoes, outdoor and seasonal plants. Our flowering plants product group also includes anthurium pot plants.

Why did you choose to grow Phalaenopsis?
Orchids are among the plants that attract everyone’s attention due to the beauty of their unique shape, multitude of bright colours, and their long flowering period. Orchids occupy a leading position in the field of ornamental plants around the world, and there is increasing demand for them year-round.

We started producing orchids in 2012 with annual production of about 60,000 young plants and around 40,000 semi-finished plants in glass greenhouses. Because of the growing demand in the local market for orchids, our production has now reached one million. We produce the full size range: mini, midi and maxi.

Anthura Stellenbosch

What are the biggest differences with the Netherlands in terms of sales and production?
There is a certain level of specialization in Dutch companies in terms of type, quality and size: you may find companies that produce specific colours, others that produce superior quality plants, and others that produce plants targeted at more affordable markets. Furthermore, the Netherlands exports orchids to many countries around the world, and the fact that there is a flower auction is a good marketing alternative if the sale is not completed in a timely manner. In addition to this, manufacturing is fully automated in Dutch companies.

Meanwhile, in Turkey, production is greatly dependent on the labour force. Also, we do not have multiple marketing options as in the Netherlands; most of our production is sold in the local market which may be greatly affected by the economic conditions in the country and this, in turn, affects the sales process. And because of the lack of an alternative market, the producer may be forced to reduce the price too much or even discard the product completely. So now we are trying to find external markets and we are putting a bigger emphasis than ever on quality, and as a brand we have managed to win the trust of both local and foreign customers.

To what extent does the energy crisis in Europe affect you and did you make any changes in your operations because of it?
The crisis has created chaos in the ornamental plant market. The local Turkish market is strongly affected by what is happening in the Netherlands, especially since some large companies in the Netherlands have closed and the prices of ready-made and semi-finished ornamental plants have fallen sharply in the Netherlands, and this, in turn, has affected the prices of local plants.

In order to reduce the risk of market fluctuations again, we now tend to produce plants that have the potential to be marketed to a wider field in the domestic and foreign markets, and to reduce the production of plants with a narrow marketing scope.

Nevertheless, we still run a great risk by continuing to produce at the same capacity rather than leaning towards reducing production.

In the past five years the EUR/TR exchange rate has increased by over 400%. How has this affected your business and what actions did you take to cope with this?
The decrease in the value of the Turkish lira has reduced our purchasing ability. And to overcome this, we have tried to reduce production costs, especially by producing young orchid plants through tissue culture; we have also introduced mini and midi orchids in our production to increase the productivity of the unit area. Conversely, the depreciation of the Turkish lira is also bringing some advantages in exporting our plants abroad at a competitive price.

We have also launched online marketing and sales and are delivering plants to customers all over Turkey in cooperation with a local courier service.

And we have installed an environmentally-friendly solar energy station that also reduces energy costs.

How do you see the future of your company?
Our company is expanding and developing every year by means of steady and deliberate progress in both production and marketing. We are moving towards automating production and cutting costs, and we have won the trust of customers locally and abroad.

We have also started selling online and fulfilling customer demand for gifts and plants throughout Turkey.

Thanks to the strong network of relations between our company and many companies around the world and Turkey’s strategic position, we expect to play a leading role in the markets of the Middle East, Russia, and surrounding countries.

What role does Anthura play in this?
Anthura has played a tremendous role in the development of orchid and Anthurium cultivation in our company. In cooperation with Anthura, we started producing them in 2012, and we have benefited a lot from their great experience in this field.

What could Dutch companies learn from you and vice versa?
In Turkey, there is more flexibility in the production of different plant varieties and it is possible to switch faster if there are changes of demand in the (local) market. Many Dutch companies produce only one plant variety.

We can learn from Dutch production automation, as it contributes to higher product quality and lower production costs. In addition, the development of marketing methods is also an aspect we can still improve.

How do you experience the collaboration with Anthura?
We have learned a lot from them in the fields of orchids and Anthurium. Cooperation with them is easy, and the most important thing is the quick response to inquiries. Mutual trust between us has developed over the past ten years, and the relationship has deepened, especially in the last three years. During this period, we have tested about 100 Anthura Orchids varieties, in addition to 400 varieties of other companies. And we have shared with Anthura our results in the percentage of double branches, disease sensitivity, and suitability for Turkey.

Do you have any other comments?
It would be great if Anthura could bring together the producers who grow its varieties around the world once every year or two years to exchange experiences and opinions.

What is your biggest challenge for the future?
Reducing production costs to contain the negative impact of high prices of raw materials and energy.