A POOD OF SALT ... IODIZED!

While many countries of the world and even the most developed ones have been experiencing difficulties relating to food security for several years, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has tasked relevant agencies not only with maximizing the country's food self-sufficiency, but also with greatly enhancing their quality.

Azersun, Azerbaijan's largest holding company, is successfully dealing with this problem as the flagship of the food industry of Azerbaijan and initiator and pioneer of many projects in this area. Having won the well-deserved trust of Azerbaijani consumers, the brands of the holding have long and adequately represented the food industry of Azerbaijan abroad. Many of them have won prestigious awards at international competitions and exhibitions.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when the question arose of providing the population of Azerbaijan with vital iodized salt, it was Azersun and its president Abdolbari Goozal who responded first. This was the beginning of the implementation of another global social initiative by the holding - the creation of a plant to produce iodized and refined salt - JSC Azerduz Production Association - at the famous salt lake Masazir in Abseron District.

The urgency of the problem with iodine deficiency was shown by the results of the project "The problem of iodine deficiency and iodization of universal salt" being implemented with donor support from UNICEF. Despite the wealth of Azerbaijan nature, soil, water and some food products lack iodine, which is so necessary for healthy human development. As a result, 75 per cent of the country's population suffers from diseases resulting from iodine deficiency.

"Various measures were taken to address the problem, but the desired result could not be achieved. There was a need for a global initiative, and this was a project for the production of iodized salt for daily consumption. Therefore, it is safe to say that Azerduz is a social project, which was implemented with a 25-per-cent share of the Azerbaijan Investment Company," said Afiq Safarov, the head of the Azersun Holding department for public relations.

On 21 July 2010, the plant in Masazir was put into operation, and Azerduz salt appeared on the market for the first time. By the way, according to the law "On salt iodization for mass prevention of diseases caused by iodine deficiency", the importation and use of non-iodized salt in cattle-breeding is prohibited.

"I should also note that the site for the construction of the plant was selected based on the conclusions made by scientists and experts after the study of sources of salt in the territory of Azerbaijan. They came to the conclusion that the processing of raw materials and the Masazir salt lake can give the best effect. The salt collected in the lake is subjected to sanitary and hygienic processing on the basis of the Swiss technology Evaterm with the most modern equipment," Safarov said.

It must be noted that salt at the Masazir Lake was also collected before the construction of the plant, but it was made in the artisanal way. The salt was packed in bags and sent to the market often without proper processing. With the start of the construction of the plant, the lake was surrounded by a fence to prevent the artisanal mining of salt. However, this does not mean that people engaged in this activity for years were left without income.

"We involved these people in the project, and they continue to collect salt, but now they sell it to the Azerduz plant, which shows the true social orientation of the project. Moreover, its implementation was even welcomed by the public of Abseron District. First, most of those working at the plant today are from nearby villages and towns. In addition, the construction of the plant helped to significantly improve the infrastructure of the area," the head of the Azersun Holding department said.

Despite its "youth", Azerduz has won the trust of consumers. After all, by its composition and conditions of production, this brand can compete with any "colleagues" from Europe now. It is successfully exported to Georgia and other neighbouring countries.

"By the way, in this context, we can say that Azerduz also successfully performed another task. The thing is that until recently, salt produced in Armenia was sold on the Georgian market. But with the beginning of the export of our products to Georgia, it was completely ousted. We won the marketing war in this area thanks to the successful investment and overall economic policy of our state led by President Ilham Aliyev," Safarov said in conclusion.

OUR REFERENCE

JSC Azerduz Production Association is located in an area of 7 hectares with a production capacity of 300 tons per day.

Azerduz is 100-per-cent natural iodized extra-salt of high quality. It contains 40 mg of iodine - the dose recommended by the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan.