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Turkey’s leading exporter of organic dried fruits and nuts, Isik Organic, will expand its production and reduce waste with a €16 million loan from the EBRD. The financing includes a €1.5 million loan from the Clean Technology Fund under the EBRD’s Near Zero Waste programme.
Based just outside Turkey’s third-largest city of Izmir, Isik Organic exports to more than 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, the countries of the European Union, Japan and the United States of America. It is benefiting from growing global appetite for organic produce.
The EBRD funds will enable the company to build a new hazelnut processing plant in Eregli, in the Black Sea region of Turkey, and finance the expansion of freeze-dried fruit production at its Afyon plant in Central Anatolia. The loan will also cover increased working capital needs, which will allow it to support more organic farmers across six different regions of Turkey.
The Clean Technology Fund’s support will allow the company to improve its land management, introduce energy and resource-saving technologies as well as reduce and recover waste, reconfirming its commitment to sustainability.
Across its three production facilities in Turkey, Isik Organic employs almost 1,500 people, majority whom are women. The company works with over 4,200 farmers, who also receive training on the best technologies for growing and harvesting organic crops.
On a visit to the company’s Izmir plant, Arvid Tuerkner, EBRD Managing Director for Turkey, said: “One of our goals is to boost successful Turkish exporters such as Isik Organic. We are impressed by the company’s high standards and globally certified quality. We want to help them grow faster and continue their successful path.”
Mehmet Ali Isik, the founder of Isik Organic, said: “The EBRD loan will help us promote sustainable organic agriculture in Turkey. With these funds, we will expand the area from which we harvest and will be able to work with even more farmers. Our ultimate goal is to deliver healthy, organic products to millions of consumers worldwide, and help grow healthy generations.”
The EBRD is a major investor in Turkey and focuses overwhelmingly on the private sector. The Bank works to strengthen the resilience of the country’s financial sector, develop capital markets and the knowledge economy, promote economic inclusion and gender equality and support Turkey’s shift to green economy. To date, the EBRD has invested €11.5 billion in 300 projects in Turkey. |
