Organic-Fair Farming Turkey Project
Rapunzel's subsidiary in the town of Ören is a model company
Rapunzel Organik Tarim
Rapunzel's subsidiary in the town of Ören is a model company
Since 1997, Rapunzel has been operating a production plant in the town of Ören near Izmir: Rapunzel Organik Tarim. In this production plant, Rapunzel's different farming activities in Turkey were brought together. With the foundation of the company, Rapunzel also achieved better control over storage and processing quality.
A generous training space and a cafeteria that offers warm, free-of-charge lunch for up to 250 employees rounds of the site. Until today, the Rapunzel subsidiary is the only larger company in Turkey that exclusively processes organic dried fruit and nuts.
At the highest level
The subsidiary's proprietary quality assurance department ensures multilevel product quality from the field all the way to the export of the products. The neighboring production plant exclusively inspects, sorts and processes organic nuts and dried fruit. The farmers package all nuts and dried fruit in special Rapunzel boxes that are marked with the respective farmer code. This ensures precise traceability of the goods.
Every nut and fruit variety gets sampled and analyzed according to a detailed plan. In addition, the Turkish colleagues send product samples for analysis to Germany. Samples are taken from every batch for our own analyses and for analyses that are performed by external laboratories.
Rapunzel Organik Tarim has a modern sultana and raisin processing plant that automatically removes pits and stems. Subsequently, the fruit are washed, dried and oiled. At the end of the automatic process, the products are manually and systematically inspected and sorted on the conveyor belt by trained staff.
Figs have the risk of getting infested by mold. In order to ensure transport of only top-quality figs, we subject our figs to a work-intensive examination for aflatoxins (the metabolic product of mold fungi). Since aflatoxins are invisible to the 'naked eye' but fluoresce under UV light, we check every single fig in a separate, darkened room under UV light.
This examination requires highest concentration and is very strenuous given the particular lighting conditions. Therefore, Rapunzel ensures that the employees do this work only for short work intervals.
Sustainable and social
A confidential cooperation with the farmers and their families is the decisive factor for Rapunzel. The cooperation is based on fair prices, an additional organic premium and the purchase of agreed product quantities. The personal contact, however, is most important: at Rapunzel Turkey permanently employed agricultural engineers support and help the farmers throughout the entire year. They counsel and inform the farmers, they train the peasant families in the basics of organic agriculture, biological crop protection, the use of organic fertilizers and composting or in pruning techniques for fruit trees and in biodiversity.
The Rapunzel project farmers appreciate this cooperative partnership - many of the farmers are already working with Rapunzel in the second and even third generation. Mutual respect and treatment at eye level characterize the collaboration.
Staff satisfaction in the subsidiary in Ören is just as important as in the Rapunzel headquarters in Legau. In addition to fair wages, modern social spaces, pleasant workplaces pursuant to German standards, social benefits and a free, warm lunch further enhance employee satisfaction. Rapunzel Turkey is committed to gender balance in managerial positions.
In 2018, the subsidiary in Ören and Rapunzel's hazelnut-cracking operation were audited in accordance with the Sedex/SMETA requirements: the neutral audit authority confirmed Rapunzel's high social standards in Turkey. The certification also included aspects like health care, occupational safety, environmental aspects and general corporate ethics.
Environmental and energy-saving measures are continuously updated in the Turkish subsidiary. Fossil fuels are banned in the entire company and the subsidiary uses as much as possible green electricity and makes use of recirculation systems. The powerful and energy-efficient drying plant works absolutely emission-free.
