Today, the company exports Turkish Coffee to

35 countries, maintaining a 141 years success story

in which traditional production is now associated
with modern technology, experience, innovation
and quality. At a time of fast pace, Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi offers pleasure to hedonists of all
ages, a place where time stands still, a sparkling
Turkish coffee with a quality unchanged over the
centuries full of happiness, friendliness, sincerity
and 141 years of collective memory.

Product

Coffee production requires expertise at each step:

purchasing the raw grain, mixing, roasting, grinding
and packaging. It takes perfectionism to select the
best beans, patience to create a balanced mix, and
precision for good grind. Very special formulas
discovered and developed through many years of
experience are now passed down from generation
to generation.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Turkish Coffee,
as well as espresso and filter coffee, is produced
from carefully selected top quality Arabica Coffee
beans. Roasting machines of special design are
used to expose the grains flavor. These machines
allow for the coffees quality and performance to
be optimized, finding an ideal mixture and aroma
profile. The coffee is then ground and packaged
with traditional mastery and care, while special
packaging using high technology is used to retain
its aroma and freshness for up to two years.

(The International Tourism Fair: 2003 - 2007);

Vakantiebeurs Utrecht in Holland (Tourism
Exhibition: 2004-2008); and the Symposium of
Cookery and Gastronomy in Oxford (2012).

History

Market

Turkish coffee is mostly drank when lounging or to

enliven the conversation after breakfast (the word
for breakfast in Turkish, kahve alti, means,
literally, before coffee) or lunch. The most
famous Turkish coffee brand, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi is now consumed in more than thirty-five
countries, including the United States, Russia,
France and New Zealand other than Turkey.
Operating since 1871 and now the Turkish
coffee market leader, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi
is the first brand mentioned whenever discussing
Turkish coffee anywhere in the world. In 2012,
Mehmet Efendis Turkish coffee sales were up by
25% compared to 2011, with the company now
having a 57% share of the sectors total turnover.

Achievements

The companys logo was designed in 1933 by Ihap

Hulusi Gorey, the pioneer of Turkish graphic art,
becoming the emblem of not only the Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi brand but also Turkish coffee
in general. This logo has made an important
contribution to the promotion of Turkish coffees
identity.
The quality of the coffee produced was certified
by the awards obtained in the 1930s in Turkey
and in France. Never compromising on quality,
the companys core mission is to become an
ambassador of culture. Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi has been an ambassador as such for many
years now, at both national and international fairs,
offering Turkish coffee to guests and participants.
Among the many events at which the history
of Turkish coffee and its place in Turkish culture
have been explained are EIBTM in Barcelona
(The Tourism Congress Fair: 2006 - 2009);
FITUR in Madrid (The International Tourism Fair:
2006 - 2010); IMEX in Frankfurt (The Tourism
Congress Fair: 2003 - 2009); WTM in London
(The International Tourism Fair: 2006 - 2007);
CONFEX in London (The Tourism Congress
Fair: 2003 - 2007); BTC in Rome (The Tourism
Congress Fair: 2003 - 2007); FESPO in Zurich
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Since 1871, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi has

considered coffee production to be an
art, passing on this craft and its associated
skills from father to son, from master to
apprentice. The companys core goal is
to make Turkish Coffee known to future
generations - the Turkish Coffee that the
Turks have given to the world - offering
coffee lovers the same quality and the same
pleasure with every sip.
Until late 19th century, Turkish coffee was
sold as raw coffee which was roasted and
then ground using manual coffee grinders at
homes. Mehmet Efendi began working at his
fathers grocery store after completing his
studies at the Sleymaniye Madrasa, rising to
become the head of the family business in 1871.
He then began to offer the people of stanbul
coffee already roasted, ground, and packaged
coffee that he had previously sold as unroasted,
raw coffee. So, as the pleasant fragrance of freshly
roasted coffee began to spread from stanbuls
Tahmis street, Mehmet Efendi, as Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi came to gain a reputation for
innovation.
Following the death of Mehmet Efendi in 1931,
his sons Hasan Selahattin, Hulusi and Ahmet Rza
took over the business, as the family adopted
the surname of Kurukahveci (dry coffee
merchant) in 1934. Mehmet Efendis eldest son,
Hasan Selahattin (1897-1944) was aware of
the importance of the international market and
decided to participate in international events. Its
objective was to present the Turkish Coffee and
its culture to the general public, both in Turkey
and worldwide.
Using the technology available at the time,
Hulusi Bey (1904 - 1934) successfully achieved
mass production. In addition, he engaged the
famous architect of that day, Zht Baar, to
construct a new and modern building in the art
deco style on the site of the companys stanbuls
Tahmis Street store, a building which is still in
use today. Another first occurred at that time:
coffee packaged in oiled paper packages began
to be distributed to grocers around the city.
Subsequently, a new branch was opened in the
famous street, stiklal Caddesi.
After Hulusi Bey died at a young age,
management was taken over by his brother
Ahmet Riza Kurukahveci (1912 - 1985) who had
been studying abroad. Ahmet Riza Bey had been
closely following developments in the world,
and now began to make significant progress in
modernizing the company. In 1933, in a vision
that was ahead of its time, he realized that
the company needed a corporate identity. He
entrusted hap Hulusi Bey, a pioneer of Turkish
graphic art, to design the famous logo which
is still used today, after 79 years, without ever
losing its value. He also advertised to the general

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendis managers welltimed innovations in developing a visual identity

for the company, accompanied by accurate design
solutions, was very important for the companys
success in becoming a well - established brand
from so early on.
A new and contemporary packaging material
and excellent presentation is reinforced with the
companys renewal of its visual identity in 1993.
After some redesigning by Blent Erkmen, the
nationally as well as internationally known designer,
hap Hulusis company logo is transformed into
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendis corporate identity.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi today
communicates through advertising and
promotional activities, continuing to support the
nations cultural life through sponsorships of music
festivals and the arts.
Some of these sponsorships have been the
IKSV Music Festival (2012), The 24. Crystal Apple
Advertising Awards (2012), the EMITT Eastern
Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel
Fair (2005 - 2012), the Turkish Coffee Road-Show
in America (2011 - 2012), the Exhibition A Cup
of Coffee: a Palace in the Memory of All Time at
the Dolmabahe Palace (2011), the International
culture, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi and its
consistent quality has retained its prestige in the
eyes of its customers. The brand is recognized as
being from one of us by millions of customers
of every age, and defined by attributes such as
experienced, traditionalist, reputable, reliable,
innovative, leader, modest, friendly and nice. These
characteristics are relevant not only in Turkey but
worldwide.

Recent Developments

public using posters and calendars, a novelty at

that time. The extension of the retail distribution
network outside stanbul using imported vehicles
showed that the son had adopted the tradition of
innovation of his ancestors.
Following the death of Ahmet Riza Bey,
the great grand-sons of the third and fourth
generations of Mehmet Efendi took up the torch.
New coffee grinding machines, developed a

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendis new management

building in Dudullu, built in 2006 by the architect
Karabey Haydar and opened on the 135th
anniversary of the companys foundation, has been
designed in the art deco style of 70 years ago. The
factory located in this building is one of the ten
most modern coffee mills in the world.
In 2012, ney Aylin Tan, gourmet writer and
researcher, published the book A Cup of Turkish
Coffee describing the culture of Turkish Coffee
and written especially for Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi.

www.mehmetefendi.com
THINGS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is the first

company to sell Turkish Coffee roasted, ground

and packaged.

Promotion

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi claims to be among

the first advertisers in Turkey and one of the first
Turkish companies to initiate branding. Ahmet
Rza Bey took the first steps when he developed
the companys brand in 1933 and commissioned
hap Hulusi Grey to prepare the companys
emblem and some promotional designs. With
slogans reflecting the advertising language of the
times, the first examples of graphic design, POS
materials, and printed and outdoor advertisements,
the company launched the first ever coordinated
advertising campaign in Turkey. Some of
Kurukahvecis pioneering promotion campaigns
have included the stand designed for the 1933
Home Produce Exhibition, painting Opel brand
delivery trucks in 1938, the first outdoor ads in
1941, custom designed calendars from 1930 to
1936, full page advertising and other promotions in
newspapers and magazines from 1933 to 1955.

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is one of the first

companies registered with the stanbul
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is one of the first
advertisers in Turkey.
Cookery Day stanbul (2009 - 2012), Turkeys
Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo (2010), the FITUR
International Tourism Fair in Madrid (2006 - 2012),
the EIBTM Barcelona Congress Tourism Fair (2006
- 2012), the IMEX Frankfurt Congress Tourism
Fair (2003 - 2012), the IMEX Wegas Congress
Tourism Fair (USA) (2011 - 2012) and the Garanti
Anatolian Conversations Meetings (2012).
Through its presentation of Turkish Coffee,
its many other international activities and
sponsorships, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi has
become a voluntary ambassador of Turkey.

Brand Values

century after the mortars with which Mehmet

Efendi used to grind coffee, have made
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi a reputable brand
growing continuously while allowing millions of
coffee lovers to discover Turkish coffee.

The Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi brand represents

the best quality and most delicious Turkish Coffee
for its consumers.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendis mission is to
introduce Turkish Coffee to the world without
any compromise in quality, introducing Turkish
Coffees exquisite taste to all coffee lovers.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi highlights the
exclusivity and uniqueness of Turkish Coffee,
through its use of original technologies and
methods of production, and its investments and
research into further quality enhancements.
Forever young, due in no small part to the
ongoing innovation that is part of its corporate

Tahmis (Kurukahve) Street in stanbul, the

birthplace of the Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi
company, is today the site of the companys
headquarters and was the worlds first coffee
street.
One of the companys oldest coffee mills, which
has-been in use since 1950, was made from war
cannon parts.
Turkish Coffee is brewed using the worlds

oldest coffee making techniques. Thanks to its

soft and velvety foam, coffee brewed this way
remains on the palate longer than any other
type of coffee.

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi was forced to

suspend its production of Turkish Coffee from

1955 to 1960 and from 1977 to 1982 when
the importation of coffee was halted due to
the lack of foreign currency. But the companys
skills and know-how were maintained through
the work and sacrifices of the familys members.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi has always
preserved the culture of Turkish Coffee. Their
commitment, perseverance and tenacity, rare
values seen in only a few companies, have
helped to preserve the reputation of Turkish
Coffee worldwide.

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