The development of the plant will enable the company to significantly increase its production capacity in Home and Personal Care to match its growth ambitions, with the Dove brand being chosen alongside others to be produced there.
"The overall home and personal care market is about €2.5 billion in size and has been growing at 8-9%,” says Unilever Turkey CEO Mehmet Altinok. “It holds significant potential for Unilever and this investment in a new facility in Konya will enable us to capitalise on the potential we see."
Commitment
The new plant will follow the model Unilever has used in designing factories with lower environmental impacts at sites such as the recently-opened Ice Cream factory in Konya, which had a €95 million investment.
The aim is for the Home and Personal Care plant at Konya to be LEED-certified and zero waste-to-landfill, through the use of energy efficient motors, rainwater collection and full water treatment.
"This is another example of our multi-year, multi-million investment plan to cater for our growth in Turkey and underscores our on-going commitment to the long term future of the country's economic development, helping to improve the financial and commercial health of the Konya region in particular," continues Altinok.
Smooth transfer
As the new factory is being built, Unilever Turkey will plan for the smooth transfer of production of home and personal care products from the existing Gebze factory in the Marmara region to the Central Anatolia region where Konya is situated.
Unilever Turkey says it will work with its employees and other stakeholders to ensure they are kept fully informed throughout the transfer process and of the opportunities that will arise in Konya.
The subsidiary has over 5,000 full-time employees in Turkey, located at the head office in Istanbul, and eight manufacturing plants in the regions of Anatolia, Black Sea and Marmara.