Kurukahveci - Superbrands

Market
Coffee plays an important role in Turkish
culture. It is drunk as a stimulant to finish a
meal or as a pleasant interlude during the day.
The Turkish word for ‘breakfast’, ‘kahvalt›’,
derives from the word for coffee, ‘kahve’, and
literally means ‘before coffee’. Though principally
consumed in Turkey, Turkish coffee is also found
in over 25 countries in Europe, America, Asia
and Australia.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is the foremost
representative of Turkish coffee. Founded in
1871, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi is the unquestioned
market leader, with instant
brand recognition in
Turkey and other countries.
Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi’s coffee sales grew
by about 7.7% in 2005
and the company
accounted for about 60%
for the national Turkish
coffee market.
Achievements
Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi’s logo, which is
based on the work of ‹hap Hulusi Görey, one of
Turkey’s leading graphic designers, in 1933, is
not only the company’s logo, but has become
the symbol of Turkish coffee. As a brand, it has
made major contributions to spreading
knowledge of Turkish coffee, its traditions and
the Turkish methods of preparation and brewing
that continue to this day. The awards the
company won in Turkey and France in the
1930s recognised the quality of Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi’s coffee early on.
The company is committed to acting as a
‘culture ambassador’ for Turkey and its coffeemaking traditions. Over the years Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi has presented and promoted
Turkish coffee at various trade fairs and festivals
in Turkey and abroad. Recent events include:
Expo Hanover 2000; Berlin International
Tourism Fair 2000, 2001 and 2002; The Third
UNESCO Round Table Conference in 2002;
The European Parliament, Strasbourg 2002;
Frankfurt Tourism Fair 2003, 2004 and 2005;
History Foundation Conference 2003 Generations,
Experiences, Evidence; The Persian Period in
Anatolia International Workshop organised by
Turkish Prehistoric Period Science Institute 2005.
History
Until the late 19th century, coffee beans were
sold raw, then roasted and ground at home using
hand-operated coffee grinders. All this changed
when Mehmet Efendi inherited his father Hasan
Efendi’s spice and green coffee bean shop.
Mehmet Efendi was born in 1857 in the Fatih
district of ‹stanbul. Following his education,
Mehmet Efendi began to work in his father’s
shop on Tahmis Street. The rich aroma of
freshly roasted coffee filled the shop and, thanks
to Mehmet Efendi, coffee lovers were able to
enjoy the convenience of buying ready roasted
and ground coffee. Soon he became known as
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SUPERBRANDS
‘Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’, vendor of ground,
roasted coffee.
After Mehmet Efendi’s death in 1931, the
family business passed to his three sons: Hasan
Selahattin Bey, Hulusi Bey and Ahmet R›za Bey.
The family formally took ‘Kurukahveci’ or
coffeeseller as its surname in 1934.
After Mehmet Efendi passed away, his eldest
son Hasan Selahattin (1897-1944) recognized
the importance of the international market and
resolved to become active abroad. His efforts
led to the promotion of Turkish coffee in many
countries as well as in
the domestic market.
Keeping pace with
the technological
developments of the
time, Hulusi Bey (19041934) introduced mass
production and
commissioned Zühtü
Baflar -one of the
leading architects of the
period- to design an
Art Deco-style
company headquarters
on the site of the
original family shop on
Tahmis Street. In addition, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi began to package its roasted-ground
coffee in parchment and to distribute these
packages to groceries, thereby making the
company responsible for another groundbreaking
innovation in Turkey. The company also opened
a branch on the famous thoroughfare of ‹stiklal
Caddesi, formerly the Grand Rue de Pera, the main
thoroughfare in the famous Pera quarter of ‹stanbul.
After Hulusi Bey’s untimely death, the
company passed into the hands of Mehmet
Efendi’s youngest son, Ahmet R›za Kurukahveci.
Educated abroad, Ahmet Bey was in touch with
global trends and developments, which inspired
him to take steps to modernize the firm and,
crucially, to invest in advertising. In 1933, he
commissioned ‹hap Hulusi Bey to design an
emblem logo for the company and this remains
in use today. The company also used promotional
posters and calendars revolutionary advertising
media for the period. Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi began to distribute coffee within the
domestic market via the firm’s own fleet of
automobiles. The company opened another
branch, on Sahne Street, in the Galatasaray
neighbourhood.
Today, Mehmet Efendi’s grandchildren, who
took over the company after the death of
Ahmet R›za Kurukahveci, run Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi. After nearly a century, the
company finally replaced Mehmet Efendi’s
mortars with the latest coffee machinery. What
began as a small family business on Tahmis
Street in 1871 has now grown into a global brand.
While Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi has
become a global coffee producer, it remains a
family business, albeit one that uses modern
technology to maintain the high quality that has
been its hallmark since 1871.
Product
Every phase in the coffee making process
requires its own special craftsmanship,
knowledge, experience and sensitivity from
buying to taste, from blending to roasting, from
grinding to packing. One needs perfect
judgement to select the best quality coffee
beans, patience to create a balanced blend, and
attention to roast well. The most special
formulas, founded on years of experience, are
transferred from generation to generation.
Since 1871, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’s
innovative approach and attention to detail has
raised coffee production to an art. This art is
transferred with the craft knowledge and experience
from father to son, from craftsman to apprentice
and from generation to generation, as the
company’s continuity requires. The company’s
years of accumulated knowledge and experience
and its innovative approach in adapting traditional
manufacturing methods to the latest technology
result in a special coffee with a unique flavour.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’s Turkish coffee,
espresso and filter coffee varieties are produced
from high quality Arabica beans. The company
uses uniquely designed roasting machines to
release the characteristic aroma of these coffee
beans and to ensure the full quality of the beans
reaches the cup. The results are ideal blends
with a delicious aroma. Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi’s coffee is freshly packaged to preserve its
aroma and freshness for at least two years.
Recent Developments
The company has commissioned a new central
building. Designed by Haydar Karabey in Art Deco
style, it will be opened in 2006, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi’s 135th anniversary. The new building will
house Turkey’s first and only coffee museum.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’s new manufacturing
plant, which will start operating at the end of
2005, is among the ten most modern coffee
production facilities in the world.
Arçelik, one of Turkey’s main household
consumables makers, launched its automatic
Turkish coffee maker, Telve, in 2004 in
consultation with Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi
A modern take on the traditional coffee pot, it
has proven very successful in design and
performance, encouraging coffee consumption.
Promotion
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi claims to be the
first promoter in modern-day Turkey and one of
the first Turkish companies
to initiate branding. Ahmet
R›za Bey took the first steps
in developing the company’s
brand when in 1933 he
commissioned ‹hap Hulusi
Görey to prepare a company
emblem and some
promotional designs.
With slogans reflecting the
advertising language of the
times, the first examples of
graphic design, printed and outdoor
advertisements, and POP materials, the company
presented Turkey with its first co-ordinated
advertising campaign. Some of the pioneering
promotion campaigns of Kurukahveci include the
stand designed for the 1933 Home Produce
Exhibition; painting ‘Opel’ brand coffee on delivery
trucks in 1938; the first outdoor ads in 1941;
specially designed calendars between 1930 and
1936; full page and other advertising in newspapers
and magazines between 1933 and 1955.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’s managers’ welltimed and speedy innovations in developing a
visual identity for the company and well-directed
design solutions were very important to the
company’s success at becoming a well-established
brand from so early on. The company’s renewal
of its visual identity in 1933 reinforced
its other moves such as its new and
contemporary packaging materials and
excellent presentation. ‹hap Hulusi’s
company emblem became associated
with the company name after some redesigning by Bülent Erkmen, which
transformed it into Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi’s corporate identity.
Today the company presents the
brand to consumers through newspaper,
magazine and outdoor advertisements
and verbal promotion activities.
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi continues
to sponsor music and art festivals. Over the last
dozen years it has sponsored: Crossroad of
Europe & Asia Symposium on September 15th
1993; Modern Coffee Ceramics & Traditional
Turkish Coffee Tools Exhibition on May 22nd
1995; Marketing Turkey’s Third Corporate
Profile Conference on February 15th 1996;
Cannes Lions International Advertisement Fest
in 1997; ‹stanbul International Design Encounters
(IIDE) Design Training Seminar on November
11th 1998; the 11th International ‹stanbul
Theatre Fest in 1999; the 14th Urban Design &
Applications Symposium in 2003; Chicago Turk
Fest in 2003; Immigration Conference and the
OIC-EU Joint Forum of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs Second Meeting Symposium in 2004; and
the Cannes Lions International Advertisement
Fest in 2005.
By presenting Turkish coffee, Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi, is a volunteer Turkish ambassador
in many international activities.
Brand Values
The Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi brand
values are to produce ‘the best quality
and most delicious Turkish coffee’.
As a global company which is
constantly expanding within the
coffee sector, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Efendi’s mission is ‘to introduce
Turkish coffee to the world without
compromising quality and to
introduce its exquisite taste to all
coffee lovers’. With its original
technology and methods of production
and its investment and research into enhancing
quality, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi stands out
as a unique and superior name in Turkish coffee
production.
Turkish traditions like asking for a girl’s hand
in marriage, reading people’s fortunes in coffee
grounds and offering hospitality are expressed
by the Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi brand.
Every Turkish household regards Kurukahveci
Mehmet Efendi’s extra foamy Turkish coffee
with its beautiful aroma as ‘one of us’ and so it
has become a symbol of national identity.
www.mehmetefendi.com
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Mahdumlar›
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is one of the first
Turkish companies registered with the ‹stanbul
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Tahmis (Kurukahve) Street in ‹stanbul, the birthplace
of the company Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, is
today the site of the company’s headquarters
and was the first coffee street in the world.
One of the company’s old coffee mills, which has
been in use since 1950, was made out of parts from
a war canon.
The method of brewing Turkish coffee is the
oldest coffee making method in the world.
Coffee brewed this way remains on the palate
longer than any other type of coffee, thanks to
its soft and velvety foam.
It is thicker, softer and more aromatic than other
types of coffee and it is the only coffee used for
cafedomancy, the telling of people’s fortunes.
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