May 26, 2023
The GPC sat down to chat Yusuf Memis about the upcoming Turkish harvest, humanitarian aid, and the advantages of being the middle-man between east and west.
Yusuf Memis is the Foreign Trade Manager of one of Turkey’s leading exporters, Bashan Pulses, which is a GPC President's Club Member.
Our family has been in the pulse and grain business for more than 34 years. But in 2005 My father wanted to start his own journey so he established Bashan with my uncle – Bashan is actually a combination of different parts of their names!
At first the company began cleaning sizeable quantities of pulses like white beans, chickpeas and cranberry beans in order to sort and provide packing options for sale in the domestic market and also for exports. Since then we've kept on investing in the pulse sector and now we have operations over a hundred thousand metric square metres and deal with close to 150 different products.
We can buy and sell pulses from all over the territory in Turkey but our main headquarters are located in Mersin, which is a concentrated area of pulse producers – all the main players have built their factories and cleaning units here in order to be close to the port.
One of our main strengths at Bashan is that we are a re-export channel – we bring Argentinian alubia beans to Mersin, for example, then we clean them and put them into fresh packaging to sell either in Europe or to the Middle East depending on where the demand is. Our geographical advantage gives us a lot of strength in the pulse trade. We are like a bridge from farmer to final consumer, and we have the know-how to maintain a bulk packing business with large capacity – Bashan can produce 3150 tons through its factories every day.
Our imports come from many different countries: for red lentils, one of our biggest products, we mostly buy from Canada, Australia, Russia, and Kazakhstan, on top of our own Turkish production. Other countries we import from are the USA, Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine, and Russia. Certain beans we import also come from East Africa – Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea.
After early drought warnings in January/February, we've had good rains in March, April and May and we aren't expecting any decrease in yield or quality. So far, so good. Chickpea production is close to 350,000 tons a year and our consumption is at around 100-120,000 tons – what’s left over will be for export.
Red lentil production is around 300,000 tons, which is not far off our total consumption so we are unlikely to export much of that crop, but we do import, process, and re-export around 500,000 tons of red lentils from Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
It's going to give us an advantage in the European market which mostly relies on Argentinian and Mexican chickpeas, so we’ll consider that demand as well as the demand from the Middle East and Asia. It will allow chickpeas to be important this year, for sure. As for white beans, I think Egypt will get the bigger piece of that pie.
The geographical advantage has the most significant role, but our factories, processors, and producers being concentrated in the same area is also important, as well as the investments we make to ensure we can follow technological trends. We have the highest quality equipment and technology.
Some countries have tried to take our position as middle-man by investing in crushing factories and plants but, in the end, our know-how has a key role in our current place in the industry. For instance, at Bashan, when we export to Africa we know that there is a consumer preference for red lentils that are heavily polished, so we polish them to make sure they are extremely bright and red, whereas in Europe people only like a very slight polish. Our wealth of experience means we know what people are going to ask for even before they ask for it.
This know-how gained over our 34 years means we start the game 2-0 up, so to speak. We can offer people 500g or 200g retail packs mixed into one container, as well as combinations of different pulses – we are able to fulfill these particular kinds of demands and offer flexibility.
Syria and Iraq import the biggest volume of the neighboring countries – they send trucks on a daily basis and we fill them. It takes two days for them to receive the orders, so it's a very fast and efficient business for these countries where they mostly don't grow these pulses for themselves.
We supply the Iraqi government as it has a project that distributes red lentils, white beans, chickpeas, and yellow split peas to its people for free. Since the situation in Syria started, aid organizations now handle the biggest volume and Turkish suppliers have the ability to fulfill their whole demand promptly. If they ask for 2000 tons, we can load that easily in a day. There is only a tiny private sector in Syria now, but we basically still send products exactly the way we used to. Only now, the buyer has changed.
We started as a supplier for a humanitarian aid project with the WFP (World Food Programme) in 2006, and the advantage they have supplying from Turkey is that pulse production is available 24/7, every day of the year.
We supply all kinds of things: canned tuna, white beans, sunflower oil, wheat flour, and nowhere else can match Turkey in terms of distance from countries involved, such as Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and Yemen, so we’ve become a strategic partner for the aid programs.
Firstly it’s important to say that it’s a very unfortunate time for the people involved. There has also been a dramatic increase in prices for essential materials like wheat, sunflower oil, barley, and corn – that’s why Turkey has tried to find some mutual benefit for both countries and try to be an in-between to help find solutions. In Istanbul an agreement was made to open the grain corridor, which meant that companies like Bashan have started importing from both origins – Ukraine and Russia.
The agreement keeps being extended, and from pulses and grain perspective I think both Ukrainian and Russian farmers are mutually happy with this situation where they are able to move their cargo.
As I understand it, the feed industry in Turkey is around four times larger than the pulses and grains industry, so it is one of the biggest sectors. In 2019, we invested in a new facility and a new factory where we produce 1000 tons of animal feed every day made from red lentils, wheat, and paddy rice – mostly for cows, sheep, and chicken.
We distribute all around Turkey to various key buyers and I firmly believe that there will be opportunities for growth in the sector, which is why Bashan made the investment. For now we're mostly doing domestic sales, but I'm getting my team ready to be an export player.
From 2005 to today, Bashan has grown to become part of the top hundred industrial players and pulse/grain exporters in Turkey, so I believe that we’re going to have an important role in the pulse world encouraging farmers and consumers to see how important pulses are.
I also think the GPC can do that. It's a real pleasure for me to be part of the organization because, as my role relates to foreign trade, 70% of our company's activity goes through my desk and I’m always very busy buying and selling products. Being part of the GPC allows me to keep in touch with what’s happening with members I know from many different countries.
I’m just thirty years old and have spent most of my time growing up in and around the facilities here at Bashan – my best vacations are often at GPC meetings! I’m going to take advantage of being at Pulses 23 to connect with the many different members from around the world, but also to take my time to enjoy Sydney.
Disclaimer: The opinions or views expressed in this publication are those of the authors or quoted persons. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Global Pulse Confederation or its members.
