Young Turkish family-owned company Altinmarka is the winner of the prestigious European Candy Kettle Award 2012.
In 1992, Birol Altinkiliç started sweets business with a smart vision. He wanted to be one of the best chocolate producers in Turkey within the shortest possible period of time. Two years later, after a period of planning, building and growing, Altinmarka started production in a business area near Istanbul.
Altinkiliç began selling his first own chocolate products from business to business. Altinkiliç saw the big potential the Turkish chocolate market offered. As a son of a traditional chocolate trader he already knew the business.
Turkey has a big tradition in tea and coffee. The idea of enjoying these together with chocolate seemed more than evident to Birol. The company started selling chocolate to small and middle sized pastry and confectionery producers as well as coffee shops. But Altinmarka grew very fast. So just a few years later the company began selling its products to bigger sweets and confectionery companies also.
Meanwhile, Altinmarka is one of the most important chocolate producers in Turkey. The company has its own coffee-shop chain all over Turkey. Birol’s vision became reality. Nowadays, the company produces chocolate 24/7 on four lines.
But not exclusively chocolate. In the meantime, Altinmarka became also a big player in the final products sector. With its subsidiary company Detay it exports its products in over 40 countries. Altinmarka works straight away from bean to chocolate.
This is the only way for Birol to control the quality of his products at best. Altinmarka buys its beans mainly from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
Birol has a son and a daughter. And as this is a real family-owned company, his daughter Dilara is already in charge of the subsidiary company Detay. Birol’s son Kaan studies international economics in the USA. Dilara showed her international talent during the three-day award ceremony, translating the great speeches of Birol directly into English.
Birol Altinkiliç seemed very proud to receive the 2012 Candy Kettle Award and he showed it by inviting about 500 guests of the company from all over the world to the award ceremony’s gala diner. It was a great party and the European Candy Kettle Club is proud to present with Altinmarka such a young, innovative company as the award winner. All the best for you, Birol Altinkiliç, and your family and for the future of Altinmarka!
