A cologne that was produced by the northern province of Samsun’s Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMÜ) last year has generated a turnover of 3 million Turkish Liras ($155,000).
Founded by the Science Faculty’s Department of Chemistry in 2020, Kampüs Kimya (Campus Chem in English) increased its turnover from 1.5 million liras in 2021 to 3 million liras in 2022.
Stating that they provide cleaning products,cologne and disinfectants they produce in the laboratory to all units of the university, Dr. Tevfik Özen, the dean of the Science Faculty, said that they aim for a turnover of approximately 5 million Turkish liras in 2023.
Özen said that the Kampüs Kimya was established in 2020 with the production of disinfectants, followed by the production of detergents and colognes. He added that with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the place developed further, and along with disinfectants, they started to produce detergents and colognes.
Özen noted that they first used the products they produced within the university, but later municipalities and other institutions started to order them too. They are trying to respond to this increased demand currently, he added.
Emphasizing that the turnover varies greatly, Özen pointed out that in 2023, they aim to generate an income of around 5 million liras.
“We generally use this money to meet the needs of our faculty,” Özen added.
The professor also said that they determine the essence of the colognes according to the feedback they receive from their customers.
“Cologne is a product that we are highly accustomed to in Turkish tradition, one of the staples we offer when we host our guests. We supply the raw materials of the colognes we use from Istanbul. We offer the products we produce in Kampüs Kimya to our consumers by using essences from European countries such as France, Germany and England. We trust our laboratory and our products’ contents and scents,” Özen said.