Izmir Chamber of Confectioners and Pastry Shops established a cooperative to protect its members against stocking and input costs. Chairman of the Chamber, İhsan Esen, said, “Thanks to the bulk purchase, we sell the sack of sugar to our members for 800 TL, which is 1,100 TL in the market.”
According to the news of Nihat Delibaşı from Dünya Newspaper noting that cooperatives are one of the leading mechanisms to prevent tradesmen from being adversely affected by economic fluctuations in European countries, especially the Netherlands, İhsan Esen said that they are the first professional organization to implement a similar model in Turkey. Esen said, “While the climate crisis, the Russia-Ukraine war, the global economic crisis, and the ruptures in the supply chain, there has been an increase of up to 300 percent in the basic inputs. It is a different kind of crisis that we are experiencing today. We cannot reflect the increases in raw materials, labor and energy to the stalls. With the establishment of the cooperative, we have provided 25-30 percent discount on items such as sugar, flour and oil, which are the basic inputs of our tradesmen.”
İhsan Esen added that if they import sugar directly, with the exception to be granted to the cooperative, they will supply more affordable sugar to their members, thus providing cheaper products to the consumers. Esen said the following on the subject: “We asked for a quota of 12.500 tons (250 thousand sacks) from 400 thousand tons of sugar to be imported with zero customs until the end of the year, which corresponds to the 6-month need of the industry. Because we are not sellers. We are the manufacturer. If an import quota with zero customs is given, we will be able to supply our members with a sack of sugar for 600 TL, which we currently supply for 800 TL.”
Source: D