In this blog, I would like to highlight a trip that we don’t encounter very often in the business world, but that we sincerely wish to see happen, and that made me both proud and excited. Upon the generous invitation of dear Murat Ülker, I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Pladis Global and the largest biscuit factory of United Biscuits in Europe in Harlesden. We traveled with a delegation that included Mahmut Asmalı, President of MÜSİAD, Ali Bayramoğlu, one of the MÜSİAD founding presidents, my father Mahmut Önügören, İbrahim Eren, founder of Upily, and businessman Macid Sungur.
Warm biscuits, hospitality and Ülker Group’s proud success
During our visit to the headquarters of Pladis Global, hosted by Mr. Murat Ülker in the UK, we had lunch with Yıldız Holding Chairman Ali Ülker, Yıldız Holding board member İbrahim Taşkın, Pladis CEO Selman Amin and Pladis Global CGO Fulya Fraser, toured the new offices and discovered some pieces from Mr. Murat Ülker’s art collection.
It is a great source of pride for our country that one of the three biggest biscuit brands in the world belongs to the Ülker Group, that this is Türkiye’s largest investment abroad in the history of the Republic, and that it is the largest biscuit factory in Europe. Seeing the Turkish flag flying there and witnessing this admirable achievement made not only me but the entire delegation very proud.
Long-standing acquaintance with the Ülker Family
My family’s acquaintance with the Ülker family goes back many years. The friendship started in the early 1970s when they were neighbors in Fatih and continued in the Mosque community of my late grandfather Osman Nuri Önügören and late uncle Sabri Ülker. This friendship was strengthened by the fact that they both acted together in charitable works as people of charity. This friendship, which has a history of more than 50 years, continued until today when my father Mahmut Önügören and Murat Ülker took part in the MÜSİAD board together in 1993. I am sure it will continue for many years to come through new generations.
Turkish delegation meeting in London
Let me continue to share the details of our trip with the hope that our family friendship will continue for many years. Our trip to the UK was further colored by a very pleasant coincidence that we were informed about only a few days ago. Türkiye’s Vice President Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz and the President of the Investment Agency Mr. Burak Dağlıoğlu were in London at the same time for a summit. Taking advantage of this beautiful coincidence, on the evening of the first day of our trip, we had a very productive dinner with a small group of people, including us, hosted by Mr. Murat Ülker. I would like to thank Mr. Cevdet and Mr. Burak for accepting the invitation to join us.
New generation work environment
We made our first visit to Pladis’ headquarters and Harlesden factory in 2017, and Mr. Murat Ülker hosted us then. Since then, we had the opportunity to observe the development both at the headquarters and the factory. We witnessed the growth and development in the factory where new investments were made and in the newly relocated headquarters building.
The working environment at the headquarters is extremely transparent. It is a new generation working office where no one, including senior managers, has an office room, everyone works together in a common area, furnished in a minimalist style, and where the green of nature adds freshness… The office, where Mr. Murat Ülker showed his belongings on a round table that was not too big and said ‘this is my office’, was undoubtedly the most important indicator of a truly transparent and comfortable working environment.
There is also an open kitchen in the center of the office where those who wish can prepare their meals and even eat while watching television. It is possible to attend a meeting anywhere in the world by reserving the digital meeting rooms through an appointment system.
We all admired all the new generation work office practices we saw at Pladis Global’s headquarters. It was very valuable and eye-opening to see and even experience such a successful example that supports the changing expectations and needs of employees, especially after the pandemic, the increasing need for socialization after the long time we are forced to stay at home, and the well-being of every employee. Of course, it goes without saying that we ate a lot of McVitie’s biscuits and Godiva chocolates wherever we went:)
The growth story of Yıldız Holding
The origin of the Godiva brand dates back to 1926. Joseph Draps, who took over the company founded by his father in 1946 after World War II, gave the name of the British Lady Godiva, who protested the high taxes imposed by her husband by riding naked on the streets and defending the rights of the people, to the sales shop, and the brand got its present name. In 2007, Ülker Group bought Godiva, the first brand that comes to mind when it comes to luxury chocolate, for 850 million dollars. With an annual turnover of 500 million dollars, Godiva today has 450 boutiques in 80 countries. Everyone knows the British passion for tea. When it comes to afternoon tea, the first thing that comes to mind is the black tea or milk tea that the British drink in a traditional porcelain cup and the sweet or salty McVities biscuits they always eat with it. It is indispensable to eat biscuits with tea before dinner in order to suppress hunger a little. In 2014, Yıldız Holding achieved a global success by acquiring United Biscuits, the leading British biscuit producer and the world’s sixth largest biscuit producer, whose roots go back 184 years, for $3.2 billion dollars, becoming the world’s third largest biscuit company. Investments in technology and robots in the factories after the acquisition, the harmony of employees from more than 48 nationalities and the employment of women are some of the cornerstones of this success. Half of the 600 people working in the Harlesden factory we visited are women. In addition, thanks to investments in robotics, the factory’s working capacity has changed from 5 days a week to 24/7, but there has been no decrease in employment. United Biscuits has a total of 14 factories, 11 in Europe and one each in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India.
One of the issues that attracted our attention and interest about the factory is safety. Before we started touring the factory, they told us about the security measures at the very beginning of their presentation about the factory. These explanations, which clearly showed how much importance they attach to the safety of employees, production and visitors, were extremely impressive.
While touring the factory, we had the chance to try the warm biscuits coming out of the big ovens even before they were packaged. I still remember the wonderful taste of that hot chocolate McVitie’s Digestive…
GOYA – Travel, Sit No More
Our trip, hosted by Mr. Murat Ülker, was not limited to the Pladis headquarters and the factory in Harlesden. With İbrahim Taşkın, Member of the Board of Directors of Yıldız Holding, we made a GOYA, as Murat Ülker calls it, in London. Thanks to GOYA, we had the opportunity to examine the market situation on site. After visiting a grocery store to examine the situation of McVitie’s biscuits on the shelf and their competitors, we visited a medium-sized supermarket to observe all Pladis products and their prices on the shelves. Finally, we visited one of the largest wholesalers in the UK and had the opportunity to examine the products and learn about the campaigns. The issue that attracted my attention the most during the GOYA process was that the prices on the packaging of all products in all three market segments were written at the factory and arrived on the shelves in this way. In this way, they both control inflation and limit the profit margin that markets can obtain from the sale of products. This prevents unfair competition while keeping costs under control for consumers.
Strengthening trade relations between Türkiye and the UK
At the end of our highly informative and productive trip, we participated in the Journey to Commercial Success program organized by the MUSIAD UK branch, focusing on the development of trade relations between the UK and Türkiye. Türkiye became one of the new and strong allies that came to the fore at the end of the trade agreement process that started in late 2020, before the Brexit decision for the UK was not yet clear. Thanks to bilateral meetings over the years, trade relations continue to improve day by day. The most recent development in this regard was the announcement on March 14, 2024 that negotiations had begun to conclude a comprehensive and modern free trade agreement aimed at taking the post-Brexit bilateral relations further in the field of economy and trade. The first round of negotiations will take place in June.
More than a hundred members of MÜSİAD UK and our young friends participated in the Commercial Success Journey program, which was organized at a time when mutually developing trade relations and opportunities should be carefully evaluated. We had the opportunity to listen to the speeches of Mahmut Asmalı, Ali Bayramoğlu, Murat Ülker, Burak Dağlıoğlu and İbrahim Eren, who were among the speakers in the program. We were very pleased to come together with the Turkish diaspora participating in the program and doing business in the UK to exchange ideas.
As a result
This trip showed us not only the international success of the Ülker Group, but also how the Turkish business world can position itself in the global market. As we ended our trip with the famous fish and chips in London, we reinforced our hopes that with the success of companies like Ülker, Türkiye’s economy can enter the top 10 in the world rankings. Our belief that there is no obstacle to launching a world brand in every sector in the next 10 years and that Turkish brands have the capacity to achieve this has increased even more.
This trip represents much more than just a visit: It is a symbol of Türkiye’s proud international success…