This document summarizes a visit to the Alaybeyi Flour Mill in Konya, Turkey. The flour mill is a family-run business owned by Fatih Alaybeyi since 1995. During the visit, the author and a professor toured the mill's facilities, including the bakery, laboratory, mill building, and packaging area. The mill produces high quality flour and baked goods. It has a focus on quality, niche products, and serving the luxury market. Standards of hygiene, organization and technology at the mill were found to be high.

1. I
n the centre of Konya, along the Ankara road, there
are many flour mills: Plain, Hekimoğlu, Aynınalp,
Agile, Great Hekimoğlu, Meram, standalone, Yeni,
AVS, Alba and Alaybeyi. Alaybeyi Flour Mill is
owned and managed by Mr Fatih Alaybeyi, who
is directly related to Dr. Omer Lufti Alaybeyi of
Molino milling machinery manufacturers, also
based in Konya.
This close network assists him and his company
in achieving its aims, and as a result it has become a flour-mill
with a very high reputation. Alaybeyi Flour Mills are a family-
run milling firm. They take part at the Turkish bakery exhibition,
Ibatech. They have produced a product catalogue called ‘White
Love’ after the white flour they are well-known for.
On Monday 4th April 2016, Professor Dr Hikmet Boyacioglu
and I had the pleasure of meeting Fatih at his office in Konya for
a tour of his flour-mill and bakery. Mr. Alaybeyi has been a board
member of Alaybeyi Flour Mills since 1995, and holds a degree
in Mechanical Engineering as well as an MBA qualification.
He told us how he is still developing the company to meet with
today’s contemporary demands, and we also heard of Fatih’s new
role at the Konya Borsa, which he explained will change a lot
for the trading of grain and will have a significant impact on the
industry in Turkey.
A brief background about this particular flour-mill
This flour mill was constructed and opened in 1989 and is a mill
specialising in high quality fine grade flours and baked goods for
many different foods. These include; Turkish soft bread loafs,
hamburger breads, rye bread mixes, pitta breads and delicacies
such as baklava, different pastries, pasta, cakes, cookies, muffins.
They target the luxury high-end market flour miller, with a real
emphasis on quality and niche value added for speciality foods.
They also mill flour for Italian ciabatta bread, French baguettes.
It is a milling brand with a clear niche in this competitive market.
On our tour the bakery was the first place we visited. This was
starting at the end of the value chain for Alaybeyi but it was great
to see the flour from the mill itself and other ingredients create
high quality baked goods for the local market.
Underground, a team of four uniformed staff managed the
bakery. In the bakery itself, there were Fimak electrical deck
ovens and other machinery too for baking the loaves of bread.
High standards of hygiene, signage, uniform, as well as an
organised layout, were evident throughout the bakery.
In the same building as the bakery stood the laboratory.
Technical laboratory equipment stood on top of marble stone
worktops. Alaybeyi’s importance for research and development
in their products is a vital part of their operations. Again in the
laboratory, standards were impressive. The testing and application
of different wheats, flours and doughs was rigorous and
comparable to any other flour-mill.
KONYA’S
MILLINGCULTURE by Tom Blacker
THEALAYBEYIFLOURMILL
48 | July 2016 - Milling and Grain
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2. Touring the mill
Making our way outside, eight GSI silos stand next to the mill
building for the storage of wheat. Inside the mill building, the
flooring and steps between the levels are made from marble stone,
clean as well as cooling in the heat of the day. There were two
lines running in operation when we visited. Inside the main roller
milling floor’s control room there was a fully digital computerised
monitoring system, recording the mill’s ongoing activity. This
system was different to others I had seen in one small way- there
was an animation of local culture on the display unit -- an image
of a Mevlevi or Whirling Dervish. This was a unique symbol that
emphasises the importance of the link between Konya and this flour-
mill.
The mill was rather different in construction to other mills -
brick built with walls of glass on its northern side. The steps
between the floors were all marble stone, clean and cool which
was a welcome relief. This was unfamiliar but pleasant. What
was familiar was that the health and safety standards and signage
were comparable to any other European mill. Fatih Alaybeyi
also led us through to the packaging area of the mill where large
bags are packaged and sent through a chute ready for the waiting
delivery trucks below. The mill was operating with more staff
than others that I had visited, and due to that the packaging and
logistics functions were more manual than automated.
Overall I would highly rate the quality of products and
craftsmanship I saw at Alaybeyi Flour Mills. There was
competence and high standards across the bakery, test laboratory
and flour mill. Technology and automation were good and with
investment can become even better. There is only one direction of
travel with Alaybeyi, and that is upwards.
More information on the Konya Commodity Exchange can be
read here: http://www.ktb.org.tr/
Milling and Grain - July 2016 | 49
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