Development and Prosperity of Society

With its economic and social impact and inclusiveness, our “Farm to Table” integrated business model serves as a “Regional Development Model.” This model employs thousands of people by mobilizing various sub-sectors in agriculture, industry and service, and offers different segments of society the ability to share an exemplary income distribution model from the income created.

Contributions to the Local Economy

With its economic and social impact and inclusiveness, our “Farm to Table” business model serves as a “Regional Development Model.” The “Sütaş South Marmara Dairy Project – Karacabey Integrated Facilities,” “Sütaş Central Anatolia Dairy Project – Aksaray Integrated Facilities,” “Sütaş AegeanMediterranean Dairy Project – Tire Integrated Facilities,” and “Sütaş Eastern-Southeastern Dairy Project – Bingöl Integrated Facilities” were all established based on this model and are successful examples contributing to regional development with their economic and social impacts.

We create direct and indirect employment in our locations, improve local capacity and talent, and contribute to resilient rural economies and the social development of societies.

In 2022, we made 94% of our purchases from local suppliers. We purchased milk from 18,096 dairy farmers and had contract growers harvest fodder crops on 33,200 decares of land. We procured feed ingredients from a wide range of producers. In our regions, we also enable various activities such as the production of machinery and equipment, the production of packaging materials, construction, logistics, agricultural technologies and support services.

Our teams work closely with our producers to make agricultural production more efficient, increase the quality of the products, and bring in more income. We make fodder crop production contracts to obtain natural and healthy animal feed for dairy cows. In addition to ensuring the use of our own fertilizers and the seeds that we select, we constantly inspect the production areas of farmers and provide on-farm training on subjects such as sustainable agricutural practices.

Socio-Economic Impact Studies

We have been working to scientifically measure the socio-economic impacts of our integrated facilities and operations on the relevant regions since 2012.

Contributions to the Development of the Sector

We view our operation as a social responsibility rather than merely a conventional “business”. Accordingly, we prioritize taking steps and getting involved in a variety of activities to further develop our sector together with the public and private sector, universities, and non-governmental organizations.

Sustainable Dairy Farming Training

The first stage of our “Farm to Table” integrated business model, the Dairy Training Centers, serves this exact purpose. In the free training sessions organized at our centers for dairy farmers, we convey the information, knowledge, and experience necessary for the producers to obtain milk at high standards and efficiency.

University-Industry Cooperation Protocols

We signed Vocational Education Scholarship Protocols with Bursa Uludağ University in 2011, Aksaray University in 2014, and Bingöl University in 2018. We provide hands-on courses, workplace training, and internship opportunities at Sütaş for students of these universities in the departments related to the milk value chain.

206 students have been awarded scholarships.

We guarantee jobs for graduating scholars.

Sector Collaborations

We prioritize the development of the sector. To serve this purpose, we participate in joint efforts with public institutions, non-governmental organizations, and universities. Projects involving our R&D center aimed at the development of the sector:

Education Scholarship

We have been offering free Sütaş Education Scholarships to successful undergraduates who lack adequate financial resources. Through our scholarship program, we offer a number of opportunities to assist in the personal development of our scholarship students, such as mentoring, training programs and project-based internships.

We became the sector representative in Türkiye with the “European Excellence in Dairy Learning” selected in 2022 as part of Erasmus +, the EU’s grant program in the fields of education, youth and sports. The project studies in Türkiye aim to establish a Center of Vocational Excellence for the Turkish dairy sector, increase the number of qualified R&D personnel, and raise the knowledge and skills of the workforce in the sector to EU standards.

As part of the Protocol signed with Uludağ University, we provide scholarships to three students to contribute to the training and employment of doctoral-level personnel specialized in their fields. Our students continue their thesis studies.

Employment and Development

Employee Satisfaction And Motivation

We care about the happiness and satisfaction of our employees. We measure employee engagement with different methods, and improve our HR processes accordingly.

We host events aimed at enhancing the well-being of our employees both at home and in the workplace, fostering unity among all our staff members.

We implement a goal-oriented and competency-based performance management system to guide our employees toward common goals, enhancing productivity and rewarding success.

Employee Engagement and Development

We believe in the importance of our employees’ contributions and teamwork in ensuring internal innovation and operational excellence, and include them in all our processes. Accordingly, we ask for our employees’ ideas and suggestions in relation to all our activities, especially those concerning efficiency, occupational safety, quality, optimization, energy savings, and animal welfare.

We evaluate the suggestions of our employees with Kaizen practices carried out as part of the Suggestion System and continuous improvement activities, implement those applicable, and reward the employees who have made the suggestions.

Occupational Health and Safety

Creating a safe and healthy working environment for our colleagues and protecting them against accidents and occupational diseases is a high-priority business goal.

Occupational Health and Safety is an important component of our Integrated Management System Policy. To further strengthen our approach, we implement and obtain certification for ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems standard at our facilities.

Click to view our 2023 Sustainability Report.

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