Private | |
Founded | 1944 |
Founder | Sabri Ülker and Asim Ulker |
Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
Key people
|
Murat Ülker (Chairman) and Ali Ülker (Vice Chairman), and Cem Karakas (Executive Deputy Chairman) |
Products |
Ülker Godiva Chocolatier McVitie's BN Biscuit Jacob's Go Ahead Biscuits Carr's Verkade DeMet's Candy Company |
Revenue | 34.3 Billion TL (2016) |
Owner | Ülker Family |
Number of employees
|
56,000 |
Divisions | Biscuits, Chocolate, Cake, Candy and Chewing Gum; Frozen Food, Processed Meat, Ingredients and Oils; Personal Care, Retail Chains and Real Estate Investment; Private Equity |
Website | www |
Yıldız Holding is a major Turkish conglomerate that is best known for manufacturing food products. The company also produces other consumer goods and has its own retail, private equity and real estate operations.
Yıldız Holding is the largest food manufacturer in CEEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), generating revenues of 34.3 billion TL in 2016 across all businesses. The company employs 56,000 people and has 83 factories (24 of which are outside Turkey).
Yıldız Holding has over 300 brands available in more than 130 countries. Through Yıldız Holding’s core focus on biscuits, cakes and confectionery, the company has become number two in the world in the sweet biscuits category and number seven in the chocolate category by revenue.
pladis is a global biscuit and confectionery company which was established in January 2016 when Yıldız Holding brought together United Biscuits, Ulker, Godiva Chocolatier (excluding stores), and DeMet’s Candy Company. Combining 300 years of baking and confectionery expertise through its iconic brands, pladis promises “happiness to the world with every bite”.
Yıldız Food operates the production and sales of frozen foods, processed meat, and ingredients and oils through various companies including Kerevitaş, Aytaç, and Bizim Yağ.
The non-food division of Yıldız makes a range of products from personal care items to packaging, and is the umbrella company for retail chains including ŞOK and Bizim Toptan.
Gözde is Yıldız Holding’s private equity company and is listed on the Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GÖZDE. Gözde invests in non-food companies, such as packaging, industrial minerals and FMCG with financial and operational restructuring needs.
Sabri and Asim Ulker, whose parents migrated from the Crimea to Turkey, began manufacturing biscuits in 1944, producing 75 tons in their first year. Capacity was tripled in 1948 with the opening of the company’s first factory in Topkapı.
The 1970s was a period of expansion, with the company moving biscuit production to Ankara in 1970. Ulker produced chocolate for the first time in 1972, which proved so popular that a dedicated chocolate factory was built in Istanbul in 1974. The same year the company began exporting to the Middle East and opened its own R&D division in order to compete with international competitors.