Category: Business

Istanbul’s Latest Hot Table

Among the world’s great kitchens, Turkish cooking may be more mauled than even Mexican when cooked off its home turf. Nearly every major city in the world has a mediocre kebab stand that is a sad substitute for the brilliantly regional cuisines of Turkey. This is why I always show up in Istanbul with a carefully plotted meal plan — the dearth of really good Turkish restaurants outside of Turkey means there are just so many dishes I don’t want to miss eating again before I go home.

Photographs by Orhan Cem CetinThe dining room at chef Didem Senol’s Istanbul restaurant Lokanta Maya.

Photographs by Orhan Cem CetinThe dining room at chef Didem Senol’s Istanbul restaurant Lokanta Maya.

Most of the places on my standing list, including Zubeyir Ocakbaþy (Bekar Sokak 28; 011-90-212-293-3951), Ciya Sofrasi (Caferaga Mah Guneslibache Sk. No.43; 011-90-261-330-3190) and Hunkar (Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi 21; 011-90-212-225-4665), are simple spots serving terrific traditional Turkish food. (Hunkar actually specializes in Ottoman cooking.). But since the city’s restaurant scene has boomed — a reflection of the thriving Turkish economy — several local chefs have opened up places that serve inventive contemporary Turkish cooking to sophisticated younger Istanbulers who want food that’s local but light and healthy and offered up in a stylish setting. Many of these new takes on the Turkish kitchen are unfortunately also pricey, tourist-oriented spots where you’re paying a premium for a view.

The white bean salad at Lokanta Maya.

A year ago, however, the chef Didem Senol, who studied at New York’s French Culinary Institute, opened Lokanta Maya (Kemankes Caddesi No.35/A; 011-90-212-252-6884), a strikingly good-looking contemporary Turkish table in the Karakoy neighborhood. It’s since become not only one of the hippest and most popular spots in town but a delicious template for a new style of Istanbul restaurant, one with an indigenous but modern menu, excellent service and seriously good food. Eager to try it on a recent trip, I could only score a seat at the service bar on a busy Friday night — putting me more or less in the staff’s way — but a terrific waiter nonetheless took the time to explain the entire menu. It’s an appealing mix of Turkish and eastern Mediterranean dishes mostly made with organic produce and showcasing Senol’s vast knowledge of regional Turkish cuisine and her passion for the cooking of the Aegean coast.

My meal began with Cypriot halloumi cheese grilled inside of grape leaves and served with a garden chutney of sliced scallions, crushed roasted hazelnuts, cucumber and tomato. Next, crispy golden zucchini fritters came cooked in hazelnut oil and served with minted yogurt dip. Both starters were excellent, and during the pause that proceeded my main course I sipped a pleasant Turkish Umurbey sauvignon blanc by the glass and watched the restaurant fill up with a handsome, mostly local crowd who filled the Danish-modern-inspired tables and eyeballed the wall covering of walnuts inside of chicken wire. When it arrived, my slow-roasted lamb was succulent, spoon tender and served on bed of rice pilaf bright with sumac berries, currants, Turkish cranberries and pine nuts.

Concluding with a mastic-gum pudding under a red-berry coulis, I couldn’t help but think that if the New York restaurateur Danny Meyer were to do a Turkish restaurant it would look and taste a lot like Lokanta Maya. I liked this place so much, in fact, that I wasn’t disappointed the following night when Turkish friends picked me up to take me to a wonderful new restaurant for dinner and, well, guess where I ended up? This time I got to try the caramelized sea bass with oranges that I’d been eyeing as a main course when the waiter suggested the lamb. As it turns out, both are superb.

via Eurofile | Istanbul’s Latest Hot Table – NYTimes.com.

July 23, 2011
Unilever Will Build Turkish Ice-Cream Plant for $100 Million

Unilever Plc will build a new plant in central Turkey at an initial cost of about $100 million to make ice-cream and help boost its leading position in the market, the company said today.

The plant, owned by Unilever’s Turkish unit, will produce Algida ice-creams, which has a 70 percent share in the Turkish market that grew 28 percent to 134 million liters, or 945 million liras ($565 million), in 2010, the company said in an e- mailed statement to Bloomberg. The plant will be built near the central Turkish city of Aksaray, it said.

Unilever’s ice-cream plant in Corlu, near Istanbul, has an annual capacity of 200 million liters, the statement said.

Unilever, which is also producing personal care products, expects 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of sales in Turkey this year, Izzet Karaca, Unilever’s head in charge of Turkey, said in an interview on July 5.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected].

via Unilever Will Build Turkish Ice-Cream Plant for $100 Million – Bloomberg.

July 23, 2011
Ebru Çerezci – Entrepreneurs

“I saw an opportunity to combine Turkey’s rich culture with luxury design while supporting local artisans.”

Hiref

Company Snapshot

Turkey has long been recognized for textiles and handcrafts, but lacks globally renowned brands. Ebru and her brother Güvenç have positioned Hiref to lead the way.

Hiref sustains traditional Anatolian artists while simultaneously ushering their handicrafts into the realm of luxury. The company sells 18 home décor collections, and offers two additional services: an interior design team for luxury hotels and a custom-designed gifts unit for corporate clients. Hiref has two flagship retail locations, and it counts Istanbul’s leading luxury hotels among its clients.

In March 2009, Garannti Bank, Ekonomist Magazine, and the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER) named Ebru “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.”

In June 2010, Hiref launched a dedicated e-commerce site.

Endeavor and Hiref

Endeavor mentors have guided Ebru and Güvenç as they developed an e-commerce strategy, expanded into the Gulf Region, and hired a CFO. Through Endeavor’s Global Connections program, Hiref connected with Amazon executive Diego Piacentini, who enabled Hiref’s handicrafts to become the first non-EU products to be available for purchase on Amazon.co.uk.

The Entrepreneurs attended the 2009 Endeavor Gala in New York (where donated Hiref products were featured), and frequently speak at universities in Turkey.

via Ebru Çerezci – Entrepreneurs | Endeavor Global.

July 23, 2011
Fatih Işbecer – Entrepreneurs

“I saw an opportunity to expand the possibilities for mobile applications.”

Pozitron

Competition is fierce in the mobile applications business, but through sheer tenacity Faith and his company Pozitron have been carving out a place for themselves in the market. Pozitron is a software developer focused on creating, integrating and securing business solutions through cutting-edge mobile technology. Since its inception, the company’s products have reached millions of customers and include mobile applications for Turkey’s largest banks, airlines, and media companies. Pozitron has also earned international recognition from institutions such as Harvard Business School and partners with industry leaders ranging from Apple, IBM and Microsoft to BlackBerry. Since selection by Endeavor, the number of jobs at Pozitron has grown by 250%.

Endeavor and Pozitron

With assistance from Endeavor, Fatih secured several contracts, and is currently being advised on sales strategies. He receives support from mentors and has benefited from the eMBA and G-Lab programs and an Immersion Tour.

With Endeavor’s support, Fatih participated in the April 2010 Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C.

An excellent speaker, Fatih remains a strong ambassador for Endeavor, and has also been active in referring entrepreneur candidates to the pipeline.

via Fatih Işbecer – Entrepreneurs | Endeavor Global.

July 23, 2011
Moody’s Downgrades Hsbc As Turkey’s Bfsr to D+

(Source: Info-Prod Research (Middle East))trackingMoody’s Investors Service has today downgraded the standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) of HSBC Bank A.S. – Turkey from to D+ to C- (now mapping to Baa3 on the long-term scale from Baa2 previously). At the same time, Moody’s affirmed the bank’s A3 long-term global local-currency (GLC) deposit rating and downgraded the bank’s National Scale Rating (NSR) to Aa1.tr from Aaa.tr. The rating agency also affirmed the Ba3 long-term foreign-currency deposit rating, Prime-2 and TR-1 short-term GLC deposit ratings and NSR. The outlook for the foreign-currency deposit rating is positive, while the outlook on the remaining ratings is stable. This concludes Moody’s review on the bank’s ratings, implemented on 16 December 2010. Moody’s says that the downgrade of the standalone BFSR was triggered by a combination of (i) poor asset quality, whereby expansion strategies adopted before the 2008 global financial crisis resulted in the current weak asset-quality indicators; (ii) the continuing contraction of the bank’s market share in loans (since 2006) and in deposits and total assets (since 2007); and (iii) its moderate profitability and efficiency ratios. Moody’s believes that the D+ BFSR and its stable outlook is supported by the bank’s overall moderate consumer and commercial, and strong credit card and corporate franchise, sound capitalisation and liquidity; and an improving asset quality and deposit-funding base. Additionally, it reflects the long-term challenges that the evolution of HSBC — Turkey’s franchise faces in the form of the strong competition from other domestic banks. This includes banks with strong retail and commercial franchises that have also pursued network expansions. The share of revenues from retail operations has been declining as the recent poor performance of the bank’s retail portfolio constrained the bank’s ability to effectively commercially leverage its pre-2008 branch expansion. The assigned rating also reflects the bank’s moderate efficiency indicators, at a time of increased importance of efficiency and economies of scale due to the lower net interest margin environment the Turkish banking system is faced with. As the stable outlook assigned to the bank’s D+ BFSR reflects, there is currently no upward pressure on the rating. There could be downward rating pressure, that could prompt Moody’s to either consider the remapping of the D+ BFSR to Ba1 (from Baa3) on the long term scale; or a downgrade of the BFSR, if (a) the profitability and efficiency indicators weaken; (b) asset quality deteriorates; (c) the bank’s retail revenue generation declines or (d) the growth rate of the credits exceeds that of the high quality stable deposits increasing the bank’s reliance on wholesale funding – reversing the improving trend in the bank’s funding base. HSBC — Turkey’s long-term GLC deposit rating incorporates parental support from HSBC Holding Plc, (Aa2, with negative outlook, standalone credit strength of Aa3). This provides three notches of rating uplift to HSBC — Turkey’s GLC deposit rating. Despite the downgrade of HSBC — Turkey’s BFSR, the high parental support assumption and the high rating of the parent compared with that of HSBC — Turkey, results in the affirmation of the HSBC — Turkey’s A3 GLC deposit rating. Despite the negative outlook on the parent’s rating, the stable outlook on the GLC deposit rating is under pinned by a combination of (i) the stable outlook on the HSBC — Turkey’s BFSR; and (ii) the high rating of the parent’s rating compared with HSBC’s BFSR. Any pressure on the parent’s rating is unlikely to result in the reduction in the level of parental support incorporated in the HSBC — Turkey’s GLC deposit ratings. HSBC — Turkey’s NSR was downgraded to Aa1.tr from Aaa.tr, the lower of the two NSR mapping of the A3 GLC deposit rating, due to the downgrade of the bank’s BFSR leading to higher parental support rating uplift incorporated in the its GLC rating. The affirmation of the bank’s short-term GLC deposit rating resulted in the affirmation of the bank’s short-term NSR of TR-1.

Originally published by Info-Prod Strategic Business Information.

(c) 2011 Info-Prod Research (Middle East). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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July 20, 2011
Baklava Bailout: How Turkey Helped Greece’s Sweet Tooth

By JOE PARKINSON And AYLA ALBAYRAK

ISTANBUL—Europe’s multibillion-euro bailout of Greece has been making headlines on a daily basis. Less noticed was a Turkish bailout last week of an Athens institution: sweet seller Baklavas Epe.

Joe Parkinson/The Wall Street Journal Nadir Gullu, with baklava boxes decorated with Greek and Turkish flags.

Greeks and Turks have bickered for centuries over which nation makes the better baklava, a sticky-sweet dessert of layered pastry devoured in huge quantities across the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. But for the past 10 years, Turkey’s best-known producer, businessman Nadir Gullu, has been supplying Greece’s closely held Baklavas Epe, which operated five stores in Athens. He provided about two tons of baklava and other Turkish sweets per month.

Old rivalries aside, Athenians lapped them up—until, that is, they ran out of cash.

Baklavas Epe’s most profitable shop is on Athens’s landmark Syntagma Square. Before the crisis, tourists and locals queued up in droves to buy the pastries. But as the government embarked on a severe austerity program to reduce its debt burden and qualify for international support, demand sank.

Baklavas Epe closed three of its five stores in Athens as sales dropped. Meanwhile, it ratcheted up close to €160,000 (about $226,000) in debt for deliveries of sweets from across the Aegean Sea, according to the company. Plunging revenue made it impossible for Baklavas Epe to finance baklava purchases from Istanbul.

“Baklava has become a luxury. Think about it: Three kilos of minced beef costs the same as one kilo of baklava,” said a company spokesman. (A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.)

In Turkish newspapers, Mr. Gullu, the owner of Karakoy Gulluoglu, a well-known baklava shop near the shores of the Bosporus in Istanbul, said the Greeks should pay their debts within a year and the business relationship was in jeopardy.

With elevated wage costs and sporadic vandalism amid protests over austerity measures adding to its woes, Baklavas Epe said it needed more time. Besides, it said, Mr. Gullu in public comments had exaggerated the amount of the debt. In short, it didn’t look good for business and friendship in the Greek-Turkish baklava trade.

[BAKLAVA]

But after the partners met last week to discuss a possible resolution, they reported a deal that would preserve and even expand their business ties. Under terms of the deal, Karakoy Gulluoglu will continue to supply Baklavas Epe and extend its loan financing for three more years. The firms will also embark on a new joint-venture coffee shop in Athens, which is scheduled to open in September.

The thinking is that if Athenians can’t afford to buy a kilo of baklava to take home anymore, maybe they can afford a few pieces to have with a coffee, the Baklavas Epe spokesman said.

Mr. Gullu says his own business, which has expanded dramatically in recent years to sell baklava and Turkish sweets in 85 countries, including the U.S., is in a position to extend the loans. “I told them, ‘it’s OK, keep paying slowly,’ ” Mr. Gullu said in an interview. “We are doing this for our friendship and for Turkish moral pride.”

The Baklavas Epe spokesman said both companies remained positive about their relationship and about the potential for the Greek economy to bounce back. “I don’t believe that Greece will stay like this because Greeks love life,” he said.

Mr. Gullu’s decision to extend his partner’s credit line is indicative of an improvement in relations between Greece and Turkey, particularly in the business community, since a pair of earthquakes drew them together in 1999. Turkish-Greek trade increased steadily until it reached around $3.6 billion in 2008, falling back to $3 billion last year amid the global economic slowdown, according to figures from the Turkish statistics agency Turkstat.

Mr. Gullu says Turks are no strangers to the pains of austerity, having negotiated their most recent International Monetary Fund bailout package in 2002 after a banking crisis the year before roiled the economy. Turkish businesses could use cash flow from their country’s booming economy to invest in Greece if it makes business sense, he added.

“We’ve suffered economic crises here in Turkey before so we understand the problems Greeks are going through….We will find a solution to this sticky situation,” he said.

via Baklava Bailout: How Turkey Helped Greece’s Sweet Tooth – WSJ.com.

July 20, 2011