Esteemed Stakeholders,
The year 2022 was a year in which the world, focused on the
pandemic recovery process, had to cope with great social
and economic challenges in the face of emerging geopolitical
developments.
The war caused significant humanitarian devastation and
disrupted economic development. As vulnerabilities have
increased, some pandemic-induced economic problems have
worsened rather than diminished. The energy crisis that
emerged in the aftermath of the sanctions led to a deepening
inflation cycle. The rapid interest rate hikes by central banks
to fight inflation have raised concerns about recession in the
global economy
In 2022, the Turkish economy faced problems due to high
inflation, but continued to grow thanks to the positive
contribution of exports. In their reports, various international
organizations state that the Turkish economy will continue to
grow in the coming period, despite concerns of a recession in the
world economy.
With its flexible and agile structure, digital transformation
and technology-oriented business model, Vestel Beyaz
Eşya successfully passed this multi-dimensional resilience
test in 2022.
As one of Türkiye’s largest major household appliances
manufacturers and exporters, we accompanied Türkiye’s growth
journey in 2022 with our strong contribution to the country’s
exports. With export markets exceeding 160 countries and
our market diversification capability, we have successfully
implemented our export-oriented business model. While
geopolitical developments and rising inflation had a negative
impact on demand for major household appliances in Europe,
our main export market, we still managed to increase our export volume thanks to our strong product portfolio and competitive
advantages as well as the strong growth we achieved in nonEuropean markets. The contraction in the domestic market
in the first half of the year was replaced by an upward trend
in the second half due to low base effect and pulled-forward
demand driven by the inflationary pressures. Our increasing
strength in online and physical retail, which captures consumer
expectations with our digital competencies, further reinforced
our position in the market. While our new practice of authorized
online dealers contributed positively to our presence in online
marketplaces, Vestel Ekspres stores, which we rapidly increased
in number and offer a combined physical and digital consumer
experience, became one of the pioneers of the new trend in
retailing in Türkiye.
Towards a sustainable future with technology and humanoriented transformation
We continue to work for a sustainable future with our
technology, R&D and innovation excellence and our humanoriented transformation strategy that supports it. Vestel
Beyaz Eşya’s operations and human resources continue to
be transformed in parallel with technological developments.
In this context, we utilize our R&D and innovation excellence
to introduce innovative production processes that will reduce
environmental impact. At the same time, we continue to
develop products that use resources efficiently, provide high
energy and water savings, and meet consumers’ health and
hygiene expectations. While using the latest technologies such
as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and autonomous
systems in our factories, with our vision of continuous
improvement and digitalization, we continue our digital
transformation efforts at full speed to make Vestel City the
first production facility in Türkiye to complete the Industry 4.0
transformation.
In line with our vision of being a technology company creating
social and environmental benefits, we integrate digitalization
into both our business processes and working culture, and
the products and services we offer. In order to adapt to
digital transformation, we are also carrying out a humanoriented transformation in parallel. We adopt working models
that develop employees’ skills and increase their ability to
adapt to innovation and change. To this end, we reinforce
a work environment that will ensure that employees’ career
development is carried out through a fair and inclusive process.
We strive to adopt and introduce modern and agile methods in
all of Vestel Beyaz Eşya’s operations through human-oriented
working, systemic perspective and strategic management
approaches.
Talent gap or shortage is one of the most challenging problems
that companies may face in the 21st century. As an engineering
and technology company, we recognize that investing in talent
to drive technology and digitalization minimizes the risk of talent
gap or shortage. With this understanding, we are working to
spread human-oriented transformation not only to our own
human resources, but also to the entire society through our
contribution to various social and environmental issues, taking
into account the needs of society.
Smarter living for everyone
In line with our Smart Life 2030 sustainability strategy, we
develop human-oriented ecosystems and innovative business
models, and engage in value-creating partnerships to pioneer
sustainability-oriented products, services and solutions in Türkiye
and around the world.
Combining its sustainability approach with its IoT strategy,
Vestel Beyaz Eşya promises consumers an easier and greener life
with its environmentally friendly, innovative and smart household
appliances that provide higher energy and water efficiency,
and aim to reduce plastic pollution. Our vision of “Smarter life
for everyone” is realized through Vestel Evin Aklı application
in Turkey and VeeZy application abroad. Thanks to the digital
services we offer in these applications and our collaborations,
we provide our users with a much more comprehensive smart life
experience.
Towards a net zero company
Vestel Beyaz Eşya plays an important role in the efficient use of
scarce natural resources and the fight against the climate crisis
with the steps it has taken to transition to a net zero emission
economy.
Leveraging the power of Industry 4.0 and automation,
we support the reduction of energy consumption through
operational improvements and innovative products, while
implementing circular models to increase resource efficiency
in production and reduce Vestel Beyaz Eşya’s product-related
environmental impact.
We aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and are working
on our decarbonization plan as part of our commitment to set
Science Based Targets (SBTi).
The adoption of circular economy models, repair, recycling and
upcycling efforts across the entire value chain play a critical
role in preventing the global waste problem. In addition to
the use of recycled plastics in products and components, our
Company continues to work towards the goal of reducing the
use of plastics by improving all product and packaging designs
in cooperation with R&D and production units.
As part of this approach, for the first time in Türkiye, we started
using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified, 100% recycled
cardboard in the packaging of Vestel branded refrigerator and
dishwashers in 2021. In 2022, this practice was implemented for
all Vestel branded household appliances in the domestic market.
We maintain our hope and confidence in the future
The world is going through a period of rapid change and
transformation. As uncertainties increase, predictability
decreases. Although we may not be able to control these
conditions, we believe that we can ensure the sustainability
of our business by managing them properly. With this
understanding, through our experience, competence and
capacity to adapt to changing conditions, we will continue to
improve our achievement to overcome challenges in the coming
period by using the opportunities offered by our agile and
flexible organization.
The value we create with our sustainability-oriented business
model empowers us both for our steady growth and our
contribution to social and economic development in our country
and around the world. We will continue to be a pioneer in
building a better, smarter and sustainable life with the steps we
take in cooperation with all our stakeholders.
Sincerely,
Ahmet Nazif Zorlu
Chairman
