FoodTurkey March/April 2018

A taste of honey by
Balparmak
With his education behind him, Özen
Altıparmak now needed to give direction
to his future, yet he still remained
undecided as to how he would establish
his business life.
This is not just the story of Balparmak,
but also the story of the Turkish Honey
Sector and the two brothers who
brought the sector’s leading and distinguished
brand, Balparmak, to life. The
exemplary story began as a modest
enterprise in Istanbul, and within a few
years became known all over Turkey.
Now the whole world is starting to
hear and talk about it.
Özen Altıparmak, the founder of Altıparmak
Gıda Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., is
one of the two brothers who created
the Balparmak brand. He graduated
from the Turkish Education Association’s
(TED) Ankara College in 1971,
and in 1978 completed his education
at Middle East Technical University’s
Department of Administrative Sciences.
His independent and enterprising spirit
on the one hand compelled him to
start his own business, but on the other
hand, conditions necessitated that
he immediately find a job and start
working.
He took the employee entrance exam
of Öğretmenler Bank, which was one
of the biggest and most important
banks at the time. He passed the test,
and was offered a position on the permanent
supervisory staff, but with the
five-year mandatory service condition...
Free spirit? Entrepreneurship? These
qualities of Özen Altıparmak did not
mesh well with this stipulation so he
declined the job.
He moved to Istanbul, which he thought
was an opportune location to start his
own business. There, he embarked on
his professional work life while working
58 FOOD TURKEY March 2018