A well located market

Turkey is a country that is very much a mix of traditions and cultures.

Its strategic position, bordered by the Black Sea, the Agean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, gives it a strong advantage in export terms. It has access to both Asian and African markets and also to Europe which exerts a steadily growing influence.

Since the 1980s the country has conducted a steady drive to attract western tourists and although not yet part of the EU it clearly has ambitions to join.

As both business visitors and tourists will have found, many of its people see themselves as largely European, particularly the younger, more industrialised generation.

In the tourist areas at least the Euro is readily accepted, sometimes more so than the Turkish lira.

As a tourist destination, the country has a very broad attraction and the website of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture sets out a strategy that clearly recognises the trend for specialised tourism. It identifies several sectors that could be developed: eco-tourism, winter sports, walking and climbing, yachting and sailing, business and exhibitions, as well as the traditional coastal resorts.

However, the report states that at present such types are only randomly being developed and it has laid out an action plan to 2013 for making better use of the natural cultural, historical and geographical assets.

Figures for the country’s foreign visitors (also on the Ministry site) show that after a poor 2009, when the total of 27,077,114 represented an increase of just 2.81% on the previous year,

2010 is already showing a marked improvement. Provisional figures for the first five months (January – May 2010) issued by the general directorate of security record 8,070, 558 foreign arrivals, an increase of 10.14% over the corresponding period last year.

Turkey’s tourist industry is naturally doing much to drive its textile and textile care market.

There are two main hospitality targeted exhibitions, the yearly Anfas hotel equipment exhibition, which is held in Antalya, and the biennial Hostech in Istanbul.

LCNi visited this year’s Anfas exhibition and found marked representation by the laundry and textile industries. A review of event appeared in LCNi’s March issue.

The journal also visited Tolkar, which is both the leader in the Turkish laundry equipment market and is also gaining a growing international presence. The company was founded in 1969 by the father of the current president Cenk Karace and named after Cenk’s brother Tolkar who was born that year. The company was originally an industrial laundry but later started manufacturing equipment.

Board member Begum Karace told LCNi that the company’s development mirrors that of the market in that its real growth started in the 1980s when the then newly-elected government began to encourage and support tourism.

The company’s two main customer bases are now hospitality and Government operations – laundries serving the military, army and navy.

As the company grew it expanded its interests from manufacturing to include representing other brands and companies. It is now the Turkish agent for Chicago, Unimac and Speed Queen. In addition to production Tolkar also prides itself on its team of technicians.

A further development has been the establishment of three central laundries – based in Antalya, Manavgat and Mugla. As well as providing regular laundry services, these are also used for field tests for machine developments where the company can trial prototype equipment before it launches the machines in Europe.

Begum Karace explains her view of the market. Turkey is a large country with 75million people. Its strategic position makes it a good centre for developing international trade in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa and indeed the country is becoming a preferred export route for many countries.

Begum Karace does however point out that the Turkish people are closer in character to Europe and a young more industrialised generation is emerging so that the country’s manufacturing sector is strengthening.

Tolkar itself also benefits from the country’s strategic position.

It began exporting its products 10 – 15 years ago and in 2008, exports accounted for 40 – 60% of its production.

The company currently has the largest share of its home laundry equipment market, 60 – 65%.

All the world’s brands are present in Turkey, but the Tolkar company is the strongest. It deals with the home market directly but has a network of distributors for its international business.

The hotel sector is still the biggest sector of the home laundry market. Hotels with up to 300 rooms will have their own laundries.

Larger establishments will go to a central laundry.

Coin laundries are few, even big restaurants will have their own laundry and these tend to be mid-size operations.

In addition there are several small laundries that will also handle domestic work.

Hospitality and the Government are still the two biggest sectors of the laundry market but more recently the hotel and hospitality sector has begun to overtake the Government sector while private markets are also growing.

However, as Begum Karace observed, 2009 changed everything as the recession hit, though the company believes that Turkey may have suffered less than some EU countries.

Prospects for 2010 do seem to be improving and the first quarter was good for the company. As the summer starts though, sales to the hospitality sector slow down as these companies will have already made their equipment purchases and now concentrate on welcoming the country’s tourists.

During the summer months therefore, Tolkar will be focussing more on the government tenders and also on business with the commercial sector.

Summing up, Tolkar believes that business in 2010 will be up 30 – 35% on 2009, although in comparison with the pre-recession year of 2008, 2010 may not see a large change.

Cash flow problems are still hindering investment and many of the bigger projects have been postponed until the future looks clearer and marked improvement may not come till 2011.

A miracle of technology

As a group, the company can supply washers and dryers from 10 – 500kg and also ironers.

An important step in the company’s development of the range came when it acquired another Turkish company Smartex. The two had already been working together and Smartex joined the Tolkar group in 2008.

This marked the start of the development of the high-tech Miracle range of washer-extractors, which spans capacities from 60 – 500kg.

These incorporate the Smartex self-balancing system, which compensates for load imbalances of up to 30% while still allowing the machines an extraction force of up to 400g. This high force allows the machines to achieve a residual humidity that is 10% lower than that achieved by the more usual 300G maximum. Increased extraction saves dryer time and therefore energy.

In addition, Miracle machines incorporate two more technologies. First, they use the Poly-Rib, drum construction which has several small “ribs” or beaters rather than three or four large ones. The resulting mechanical action makes soil removal more efficient and also produces a shower effect so that the removed soil is washed away effectively.

The ECO drum has a construction that prevents water being trapped in the gap between inner and outer drums and instead pumps it back into the inner drum.

As a result water use is more efficient and this construction can produce water savings of up to 50%, in turn leading to reduced chemicals and energy use.

These two technologies are particularly significant in the light of severe water shortages being suffered in certain areas of the world and concern about declining natural resources worldwide.

In recognition of the contribution these the technologies are making to conserving environmental resources, the Miracle machines won the 2009 competition organised by TUSID, the Turkish association for food service, laundry and equipment service manufacturers and businesses.

Towards the end of 2009, the company introduced yet a further development to the Miracle range when it brought in the first
gas-heated washer-extractor.

While gas has been an option in ironers and dryers for some time, washer-extractors had only been available with steam or electric heating. Globally, gas is steadily becoming seen as the sustainable fuel choice, so the introduction of the gas-heated washer-extractor, claimed as a first, is not only an extension of the company’s eco-policy but also a marked step forward for the international laundry market.

There are still many areas of the world where laundries rely solely on washer-extractors.

There are still relatively few tunnel washers in the Turkish home market given the country’s size though they are installed in the Tolkar central laundry in Antalya.

In some respects the laundry market could be said to be entering a new technology curve.

That curve however may take some time to develop. While the economy is beginning to improve, the recession put many large investment projects on hold as cash-flows became more restricted.

However, the mood is still optimistic for the long term future.

Tolkar itself is well placed to make the most of recovery when it does come. It is a large company, with a large range and diverse interests.

It manufactures textile production machines as well as laundry equipment though the laundry division is larger.

A leader in its home market, the company feels it is well-placed to develop its international trade.

As Begum Karace sums up:“When a company is growing and it has a good product, there are no borders.”

Poly-Rib and ECO-drum are trademarks