MST Holland combines Dutch tech with Turkish culture

On the bustling first day of Growtech in Antalya, Turkey, co-owner Peter Barel talks about the specific way of doing business on the Turkish market and the developments in the large horticultural country. The horticultural fair brings together much of the world, with this year's exhibitors from 26 countries and visitors from as many as 126 countries. 

There are five country pavilions. In the Dutch pavilion, MST Holland with partner Hoogendoorn is prominently present. MST Holland installs climate systems, heating, electrical and water installations and is a permanent partner for Hoogendoorn in Turkey. The company was founded by Dutchman Peter Barel and Turkish Meral Bilgin. 

Peter Barel has been living and working in Turkey for almost 5 years as an installer and distributor of horticultural technology. “About 24 years ago I met Meral by coincidence. She was an air conditioning saleswoman at the time. We started working together and from that MST was born.” Growing rapidly, the company now has 35 employees and a well equiped production facility near Antalya. Here, among other things, irrigation units are built to customer specifications. 

Barel explains why their collaboration adds such value. “I bring in the Dutch-European when it comes to technique and level of work. As soon as an offer is made, it's Meral's turn. The communication and doing business then conforms to Turkish culture. That mix works well.”

Meral Bilgin

Getting a foothold in Turkey from the Netherlands is very difficult, he says. “Suppliers with only Dutch people here run up against the fact that they don't know the culture and are not awarded business.”

That's not to say things are going easy for MST Holland. Many things go differently than planned. “Regularly investors and growers make wrong choices, so installations don't fit together properly. Then it still doesn't work optimally and you have to solve problems afterwards. It remains challenging, every time.”

Inflation and water scarcity

For horticulture, perhaps the greatest challenge lies in the growing scarcity of water. Irrigation water is mainly drawn from underground wells. With less precipitation by climate change and growing use, the water level of these natural buffers is falling. Barel: “It's becoming a big problem that is only now getting a lot of attention. Investing in recirculation and disinfection of drain water would be a solution for substrate cultivation. For cost reasons, this is rarely done, while you earn this back in two years, just because of the savings on fertilizer. Now growers throw away a third of that by discharging their drain water.”

It's waiting for that to become mandatory by government, and Barel does see signs of it. “But then it also has to be enforced. That's not a given here.” 

Another challenge at the moment is the high inflation and large fluctuations in the exchange rates of the Turkish Lira. “That is a handicap. The euro is now much more expensive for the Turks, but I have to buy materials in euros.”

Key role Turkey

Turkey and Growtech Antalya in particular play a key role in horticulture in this part of the world. Centrally located between Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, suppliers of horticultural products and suppliers can thrive here, with Turkey itself also representing a large market. In addition to Turkey, suppliers include Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Azerbeidzjan.

Author: Koen van Wijk

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