Turkish Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products Steps Up Its Investments in Africa

Morocco is the newest link in the chain of investments undertaken by the Eczacıbaşı Group on its 80th anniversary to accelerate growth. With the construction of a €25 million plant in Morocco, Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products has become the first and only international company to manufacture and market tissue paper in this country.

Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products has stepped up its presence in the African market with the opening of its new tissue paper plant in Casablanca, Morocco, on the Eczacıbaşı Group's 80th anniversary. The investment makes Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products the only international company in Morocco to both manufacture and market tissue paper in the country, thus continuing the company’s pioneering tradition.

The tissue paper market in Morocco, a country of 37 million people with an average age of 28, holds tremendous potential. Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products’ new plant, built at a cost of €25 million, can manufacture more than 50 different types of tissue paper products under the Solo and Selpak brands, including paper towels, toilet paper, napkins and hankies as well as 1,200 rolls of toilet paper per minute. Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products aims to follow up this first phase of the investment, which features the fastest paper machine in Morocco, with a second phase investment in the period ahead.

“We continue to invest without pause”

Speaking to the press at the opening ceremony, Eczacıbaşı Group CEO Atalay Gümrah said the Group continued to work diligently and confidently for a healthy future, inspired by its 80-year history, and added, "In 2022, we allocated over €200 million for investments that will ensure the growth of our core business fields. During the first three quarters of the year, our investments totaled about € 150 million. We will continue to invest during the remainder of 2022 and in 2023. In addition to organic investments, we are undertaking different initiatives in diverse business fields. For example, we recently made a new investment in healthcare by acquiring Gensenta Pharmaceuticals.

Like our Group, which earns more than 60 percent of its revenue from international sales, Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products aims to grow through international investments and trade. This facility in Morocco represents an important step towards that goal. Our plant, which cost €25 million to build, is a fully-owned Eczacıbaşı Group venture and our first investment on the African continent. As the sole international company producing tissue paper in Morocco, we hope to accelerate business cooperation between Morocco and Turkey. We also aim to extend the leadership of our Selpak and Solo brands in Turkey to Morocco’s tissue paper market."

“We are growing in international markets while maintaining our leadership in Turkey”

Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products CEO Bülent Kozlu underlined the company’s mission of being present at every moment for clean and healthy living and said, "Trusted by consumers, our leading and pioneering brands in the cleaning paper, baby care, personal care and home care categories are present in seven out of every 10 homes in Turkey.

As the pioneer and innovator of Turkey’s tissue paper market, we have broken new ground in many categories with our Selpak and then Solo brands. We have also increased our production capacity yearly and contributed to market growth through our investments. In Turkey, our tissue paper production capacity is approaching 250 thousand tons per year. While maintaining our leadership in Turkey with a 22 percent share of the tissue paper market, we are accelerating our activities in different countries in an effort to become a regional power."

Kozlu noted that international sales currently contribute 23 percent of Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products’ turnover and said, "Our international journey started with the export of semi-finished products in the 1980s. By the end of the 1990s we were exporting Selpak-branded products. Today, we are one of the largest Turkish exporters of tissue paper products. For us, internationalization means localization, exports and brand investment in different markets. The Moroccan market, where we have been growing without pause since 2018, has an important place in our plan to become a regional power. Our goal is to increase the share of international sales in our turnover to 50 percent by 2026. Selpak, which now has a home in Morocco, commands a 47 percent share of the upper segment. With Solo now entering the standard segment, we will become an even bigger player in the overall market. But Morocco is just the start of an even greater ambition. By further strengthening our local production and marketing competencies in Morocco, we plan to export to a variety of countries and to invest in other African countries based on the experience we gain in this market."

“Our goal is to become a leading player in Morocco”

Tolga Yazgan, Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products Country Manager-Morocco, noted that per-capita tissue paper consumption in Morocco is 2 kg per year and added, "The global average is 6 kg, while the averages for Western countries and Turkey are respectively 16 kg and 7.5 kg. The data indicate that the volume of demand in the Moroccan market will grow by 5 percent per year. This growth potential played an important role in our investment decision.

We introduced the Selpak brand in Morocco in 2018, and quickly achieved a strong market position; Selpak is now the leading brand in the upper segment. With the support of our new plant, we aim to leverage our Solo brand to respond to the needs of a wider consumer base. Since its entry in September, Solo has grown rapidly in the standard segment. By 2025, we aim to be the leading player in every category of the Moroccan market tissue paper market with our Selpak and Solo brands."

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