Aksan Cosmetics, which started its trade journey with wet wipes and reached the leading position in the sector, continues to be popular with its quality and innovative production approach. We interviewed Servet Gerz, Vice of Chairman at Aksan Kozmetik A.Ş. on the company.
A journey that starts with wet wipes… Could you inform us on the successful origin story of Aksan Kozmetik?
Aksan Kozmetik was established in 2008 in Istanbul. We started production with a staff of 40 people in a total area of 2 000 square meters, at that time we had an annual production capacity of 20 million packs of wet wipes.
Today, we produce 100 thousand tons of liquid, 220 million packs of wet wipes, 15 million boxes of ear buds and 50 million pet bottles per year at Sedex, ISO, GMP, BRC and IFS quality standards in our 30 thousand square meter integrated production facility located in Hadımköy, Istanbul. We are one of the companies with the highest liquid filling capacity in Turkey. We also manufacture complementary products such as ear buds, plastic caps, pet bottles, cotton wicks in our integrated facility. We meet our own plastic packaging needs with PET packaging and PP injection production lines, and we also supply many brands both in Turkey and around the world.
We continue our journey, which we started with wet wipes, by working hard to become a leader in the sector by developing products that are high quality, innovative and in line with the needs of the consumer.
You have many brands that stand out in the domestic and international market. What about your brands and product range in general?
In the domestic market, we produce personal care, baby care, home care and cosmetic products with our DeepFresh, Savon De Royal, UltraFresh, Bebe Royal, L’Unique and Savon De Luxe brands. In addition to these brands, we produce in the same product categories with Comfort Love and Happy Kinder in the foreign market.
You are one of the companies with the highest liquid filling capacity in Turkey and you are making a name for yourself with your many successful strategies. So, what is the secret of this success?
We follow innovations and are in continuous development. In addition to these, we take fast action and work hard. We also have a very strong and expert team.
OZONE LAYER FRIENDLY, VEGAN CERTIFIED DEODORANT
Bringing a different perspective to deodorant, your new product “Deo Wipes” became one of the preferred products as soon as it took its place on the shelves. Could you tell us about the advantages of your new product?
Thanks to the situation we encountered at a fair in Dubai a few years ago, we achieved the success of being the first brand to produce DeoWipes in Turkey with an investment of 500 thousand dollars, starting with the idea of combining deodorant and wet wipes. DeoWipes, which does not contain any propellant gas, is ozone-friendly and vegan certified, provides freshness all day long with its pleasant smell. Thanks to its rich content, it helps moisturize the skin and offers 24-hour protection against sweat odor. It does not prevent sweating, which is the natural function of the body, and prevents the formation of bad odor as a result of sweating.
DeoWipes helps to meet the mineral support needed by the skin with sea salt rich in magnesium, potassium and calcium minerals, while allowing skin brightness and elasticity with its salix alba (white willow tree) extract, it does not include any raw materials obtained from animal sources in its formula.
PRODUCTION ACCORDING TO QUALITY STANDARDS
We know that you attach great importance to meeting customer expectations at the highest level. What kind of work are you doing to keep this at the top?
We are trying to meet the quality expectations of our customers at the highest level by producing in accordance with the ISO, GMP, BRC and IFS quality standards. In addition, we develop our products by following new trends and using up-to-date and safe raw materials. We attach importance to product development with the principle that our products are products that facilitate the lives of our customers at every moment of their lives and contribute to the safe coexistence of their loved ones.
“WE AIM TO INCREASE OUR EXPORTS by 30%”
What do you think about your export and target markets? Are there any new investments?
As Aksan Kozmetik, we were among the top 5 companies that exported most last year. Our biggest export market is Europe, followed by Latin America and Russia. This year we established our first office and logistics center in Romania. We aim to organize the same action in London and in Panama next year, so that we can conduct our operations in Latin America more effectively. Thanks to these steps, we aim to increase our exports by 30% in the next period compared to last year.
As our new investment, we purchased our skin care masks production and packaging machine. We are planning to produce face care masks containing solutions formulated to be good for skin problems in a solution impregnated with nonwovens, which are sold in single packages and allow skin care in the home environment. Our machine will be in our factory at the end of 3 months. We aim to start the production of skin care masks at the beginning of next year.
What are your expectations and recommendations for the sector?
In my opinion, the personal care sector is a sector that will develop day by day, its market will grow and its consumption will increase continuously. We can say that investing in this sector is the right investment as long as people increase their maintenance and cleaning habits. Producing innovative products that provide comfort to the consumer in addition to innovative, aesthetic and personal care during use will make the manufacturer and the brand preferable. As Aksan Kozmetik, we try to lead the way in these matters.
