Balsu Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. is a producer, processor and exporter of hazelnuts and its derivatives. Its headquarters is located in Istanbul's
Beykoz district.
History
Its history dates back to 1979, when its founder
Cuneyd Zapsu
Hasan Cuneyd Zapsu (born 19 November 1956 in İstanbul) is a Turkish businessman of Kurdish and Balkan origins. He was a co-founder of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey as well as the founder of Balsu, one of the world's leading ...
established a company which supplied
hazelnuts from
Turkey to international markets.
The modern company was founded in 1984 as a privately held business based in Istanbul. Balsu is reaching global markets through its affiliates: Balsu Europe GmbH in Germany, Balsu USA Inc in Florida, USA; and Balsu Asia in Hong-Kong.
Production
Today the company is one of the main
hazelnut producers in Turkey, its factory in
Sakarya Sakarya may refer to:
Places
* Sakarya Province, in Turkey
** Sakarya (electoral district)
** Sakarya University
* Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago
* Sakarya River, in Turkey
* Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Pro ...
is able to process about 55,000 tons of hazelnuts annually. It is also a leading exporter of hazelnuts to the global market and to its clients count companies like
Ritter Sport,
Ferrero or
Nestlé. Balsu created together with Nestlé and
Olam International
Olam International is a major food and agri-business company, operating in 60 countries and supplying food and industrial raw materials to over 20,900 customers worldwide. Its value chain includes farming, origination, processing and distributi ...
a program to enhance the labor standards in the hazelnut industry in Turkey.
References
Hazelnuts
Turkish companies established in 1984
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