When Umut Kaplan was a child growing up in Ankara, Turkey, his parents made the decision to open their home to an exchange student from Italy.
He had no idea that the experience would have a profound impact on not only his future but the future of his entire family.
“By hosting the student, my family really saw the benefit of being immersed in another culture,” Kaplan said. “They knew they wanted my brother and me to have the same experience.”
With that goal in mind, the Kaplans decided to send their sons to high school in New Hampshire and eventually on to college in Minnesota. While there was a big language barrier at first, the brothers were gradually able to adapt to life in the U.S. thanks to the unwavering generosity and support of the people they met along the way.
That kindness didn’t go unnoticed by Kaplan’s family, who visited their sons often and saw firsthand how much they were loved by their new communities.
“Over the course of our journey, my family has been so grateful that our friends and teachers have embraced us, made us feel like we had a home away from home and shared their culture with us,” he said. “And my parents wanted to do the same thing for them.”
Kaplan’s parents, entrepreneurs who own and operate 50 acres of olive groves back in Turkey, decided the best way to bring a taste of their home country to Minnesota would be to open a shop and in 2019, they did just that. Now, more than two years later, they’ve turned Edina-based Coccinella Mediterranean Heritage into a shopping destination. Customers come back time and time again to purchase the high-quality extra virgin olive oil that’s imported directly from the Kaplan family’s olive groves along with lush Turkish cotton textiles and hand-crafted ceramic pieces created by Turkish artisans.
In addition to their storefront located at 50th and France, the Kaplans run a booming wholesale business, selling their products in specialty retail shops and small grocery stores across Minnesota and several other states.
“We want our olive oil to be found in every kitchen,” Kaplan said.
Though Coccinella, which means “ladybug” in Latin, is thriving now, the family faced their share of challenges once Covid hit.
“It was a very difficult time for us because not only was our retail shop closed, but the wholesale side was suffering because the small retailers we were selling to were also closed,” Kaplan said. “They weren’t thinking of ordering more products because they didn’t even know if they were going to survive the pandemic.”
But because the Kaplans are entrepreneurially minded, they never considered giving up. Instead, they started pursuing other avenues to generate business while building awareness of their brand. And the decision proved to be a great one.
“About a month before Christmas, we met a lawyer at one of the indoor farmers markets here and she was looking for gifts for her associates and her clients,” Kaplan recalled. “So she paired up a Turkish towel with a bottle of olive oil and ended up purchasing 13 sets of them.”
A week later, the lawyer called the store and asked for 10 more sets, which the Kaplans happily prepared for her. When she stopped by to pick them up, she and Kaplan chatted briefly.
“She said of all the gifts she’d done that holiday season, these were the only ones she’d gotten thank you emails about,” he noted. “It was really wonderful to hear.”
And just like that, with a little more research and exploration, Coccinella’s corporate gift program was born and it’s now a critical part of the company.
“We work with law firms, accounting firms, interior designers, real estate agents – you name it,” said Kaplan, who has incorporated new products such as olive oil soaps and Turkish colognes into the gift packages. “People like our products because they’re not the typical bottle of wine or Yeti cup or basket of food, all of which are nice gifts but have been so overdone that people don’t even remember receiving them – or who sent them in the first place.”
Being adaptable, hardworking and willing to think outside the box has helped the Kaplans turn Coccinella into a growing, thriving business, but there are other elements that have contributed to their success as well. If you’re looking to start your own company or are thinking about revamping some of your processes, here are a few things Kaplan suggests keeping top of mind:
- It’s all about building relationships: No matter what industry you’re in, your company is probably not the only name in the game, and if you’re not giving your customers what they want, they’ll probably go elsewhere. That’s why it’s not only important to have a good service and a good price point, but it’s also crucial to build strong and meaningful relationships. “That’s what is going to set you apart,” Kaplan said. “You can have competitors who are doing the exact same thing as you – maybe even at a better price – but once you build that trust factor with your customers, they’re not going to go out and look for another solution again.” While it can take time to establish those relationships, it’s well worth it in the long run. “Sometimes people get impatient because they want to do things faster, but doing things faster doesn’t always mean it’s going to be better,” he said.
- Keep your eyes and ears open for connections: Not every business opportunity comes from a scheduled meeting, which is something Kaplan learned while he was still in school at the University of Minnesota. One day, he was FaceTiming with his girlfriend who lived in Turkey and a man came up to him and said hello in Turkish, having overheard him speaking the language. The men got to talking and Kaplan’s new acquaintance ended up connecting him with another person from Turkey who owned a restaurant. When he shared some information about his business with the restaurant owner, the man told him about a German friend who was coming to Minnesota to sell his chocolates at well-known grocer Kowalski’s. “He told me ‘I’m going to introduce you to him,’” Kaplan said. And true to his word, the restaurant owner did just that. In turn, the German chocolate maker facilitated an introduction with the corporate buyer he had worked with at Kowalski’s. “I went to meet with him and shared our story and he said ‘I’m going to introduce you to the grocery person who is in charge of the olive oil,’” he said. “And so I met with him, did a presentation, and seven months later, we got into Kowalski’s. I might have been able to do it on my own, but if that guy didn’t say hi to me and we didn’t start that relationship, it may never have happened. That’s why I’m always open to meeting new people and I highly recommend it to every business professional. You never knew what might come of it.”
- Always remember that givers gain: Kaplan recently met with the general manager at a new hotel and he was so impressed with what he saw that he immediately reached out to his network. “I told them I wanted to connect them with the general manager so that if they wanted to host any events, they would know how to get in touch with her,” Kaplan said. “And the general manager was so happy that I did. She said ‘let’s meet next week. I have some business I want to discuss with you.’ I wasn’t expecting any of that at all – I was just trying to help make some connections.” And by simply focusing on giving back, he may have tapped into a new opportunity. “When you’re trying to build a relationship, you can’t be in a position where you’re always expecting things,” he said. “You need to be giving and when you try to grow other people’s business, your business will also grow.”
- Stay focused on serving your customers: In any business, some days will be more difficult than others, but Kaplan knows that it’s important to always remain focused on giving customers the best experience possible. “Our commitment to our customers is unparalleled,” he said. That’s why he and his family go out of their way to pay attention to every detail, to follow through on every promise and to always lead with a positive and welcoming attitude. “The passion we have for our work has always been well received,” Kaplan said. “And it does make a huge difference.”
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