Leaderboard

Erhan KURDOĞLU Chairman

Erhan Kurdoğlu is the Founder and Chairman of TAB Gıda. Between 1987 and 1991, Mr. Kurdoğlu served as the Assistant General Coordinator at Ata İnşaat San. ve Tic. A.Ş. He then founded Ekur İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in 1993. Following the establishment of TAB Gıda in 1994, the Company acquired the rights to operate Burger King in Turkey in 1995. Mr. Kurdoğlu graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering.

Korhan KURDOĞLU Co-Founder and Vice Chairman

Korhan Kurdoğlu is a Founding Member and Co-Founder of TAB Gıda. Mr. Kurdoğlu is the President of the Turkey – China Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey and the President of the China Network of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD). Korhan Kurdoğlu earned his degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami in 1987, and later completed his Master’s degree in International Relations at Columbia University.

Recep Caner DİKİCİ Board Member

Recep Caner Dikici served as the CEO of TAB GIDA from 2004 to 2023, after which he has been serving as a Board Member since April 2023. Prior to joining TAB GIDA, he served as the founder of KOÇ-ATA Farm and previously managed the activities of Ata Construction's timber factory. Recep Caner Dikici, who graduated from the Middle East Technical University's Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, holds a Master's degree in Electronic Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Additionally, he holds an associate degree in Agriculture and a bachelor's degree in Gastronomy from Eskişehir Anadolu University. In addition to his role at TAB GIDA, he also serves as a Board Member at TFI TAB GIDA Investments Inc., Burger King China, and AtaSancak Inc.

Furkan ÜNAL Board Member

Furkan Ünal began his professional journey at a multinational consulting firm where he oversaw projects related to finance, strategy, economics, and management in over 10 countries. Prior to joining TFI TAB Food Investments as the Group CFO, he served as CFO at Kardemir (Karabük Iron and Steel Factories) for 5 years, Assistant General Manager in charge of Corporate Finance and Investments and Executive Board Member at AktifBank, and Chief Advisor to the Board of Directors at TAIB Bank, a subsidiary of Dubai Group. Mr. Ünal currently serves as an Independent Board Member at two different banks in Kazakhstan and Albania, and as an Advisory Board Member at a company listed on the US Nasdaq stock exchange. After completing his Bachelor of Engineering, Mr. Ünal received his MBA/Master’s Degree in Finance from Bilgi University. He currently continues his PhD. at the same university.

Ayşe Ayşin IŞIKGECE Board Member

Ayse Aysin Isikgece joined TAB GIDA as an independent board member in December 2023. After starting her career as Purchasing Assistant Position at GİMA incorporated company , Isikgece continued to work as Purchasing Group Manager for Fresh Products at Metro Cash & Carry Company. Between 2016 and 2018 years, she worked as a Member of the Executive Board of Carrefoursa and the Deputy General Manager for Food and Purchasing. In 2018, she was assigned as the Chairman of the Board of Directors as the General Manager of TİGEM(General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises). Ayse Aysin Isikgece worked as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry between January 2021 and April 2022 years. She continues her career as a Freelance Consultant, Board Member Strategic Advisor and Start-Up Mentor for the Private Sector and Non Governmental Organizations. Throughout her career, Isikgece has developed many projects that raise awareness for the protection of small scale producers and support of sustainable agriculture, such as 'Geographically Indicated Products', 'If There are Bees, There is Life', 'Local Seeds, Fresh Crops'.

Halil Doğan BOLAK Board Member

Halil Doğan Bolak joined TAB Gıda in December 2023, as an Independent Board Member. After graduating from Istanbul Robert College High School in 1979, Halil Doğan Bolak studied Physical Optics Engineering at the University of Rochester's Engineering and Applied Sciences Institute in 1983.He earned an MBA in Quantitative Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Rochester's Simon Business School in 1985, obtaining the "Beta Gamma Sigma" honor.
Between 1985 and 1999, Bolak served in various technical, operational, and general management roles as a third-generation family member in the Turkish Petroleum Group, a family company. During the growth period of one of the leading securities and banking software producer in Turkey, he worked and served as its general manager for a period. From 2013 to 2023, he held the position of co-founder and CTO(Chief Technology Officer) at Invstr, a London-based fintech company specializing in individual investment services. Bolak worked as a Senior Advisor in mergers and acquisitions at Mediobanca S.p.A. one of Italy's leading investment banks, from 2013 to 2016. Currently, he is the founding partner of B4YO (www.b4yocapital.com), an early-stage VC focusing on investments in startups in Turkey, where the experience, expertise, and networks of partners can provide significant benefits. B4YO manages a Turkish VC (Venture Capital) fund with more than 40 investors and has completed seven investments to date. In addition to his role on the Board of Trustees at the Turkish Education Foundation, Bolak is also a member of the executive board of trustees at the Turkish Petroleum Foundation. Bolak, who is married and has three children, is a Galatasaray Sports Club Council Committee member.

Gökhan ASOK Co-CEO

Gökhan Asok joined TAB Food Investments in 1995 as a management trainee and started serving as the Vice President of Human Resources since 2013. After five years as a restaurant manager, Asok was named Internal Audit Manager in 2001 and became Operations Manager in 2004. After spending four years managing operational units, he was promoted to Director of Human Resources. Asok's responsibilities include Human Resources, Internal Audit, Human Resources, Administrative Affairs, Recruitment, Occupational Safety, Educational Technologies and Internal Communications departments of TAB Food Investments. Gökhan Asok graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Business Administration in 1989. Asok has been named general manager, in charge of Operations, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Administrative Affairs, and Information Technology, effective July 2023.

Özgür ÇETİNKAYA Co-CEO

Having joined TAB Food Investments in 1995 Özgür Çetinkaya has been Vice President of Finance since 2013. Çetinkaya has more than 30 years of experience in the banking and finance industry and is a member of UFRAD (Turkish Franchising Association) and GPD (Food Retailers Association). Çetinkaya graduated from Middle East Technical University in 1992 with a degree in Economics, completed an executive MBA and a Master's degree in Marketing Communications at Bilgi University, where he later began his PhD studies. As of July 2023, Çetinkaya has been named the General Manager in charge of Finance, Financial Affairs, Franchise, and Investor Relations.

Sinan ÜNAL Co-CEO

Sinan Ünal joined TAB Food Investments (TFI) in 2019 as the CMO after holding strategic positions in global companies such as Total Oil and The Coca-Cola Company. Ünal was lastly working as the Strategic Customers and On-Premise Consumption Channel Director at Coca-Cola. He graduated from the Economics Department of Galatasaray University and completed the Executive MBA program at the same university. Ünal has been designated as the General Manager in charge of TAB Food Marketing and Strategy, Takeaway, and Corporate Commercial Relations in July 2023. Ünal who is married and father of two, is proficient in English and French.

Caner ALPASLAN CMO

Caner Alpaslan studied at Bilkent University, Department of Economics, and completed his master's degree at Galatasaray University, Department of Communication Strategies and Public Relations. Alpaslan started his career as a sales analyst at FedEx and worked in various positions in the Marketing department of Coca-Cola İçecek for almost 10 years, and since February 2020 he has been the Marketing Director of the leading quick-service restaurant chain TAB Gıda, which operates seven brands - Burger King®, Popeyes®, Arby's®, Sbarro®, Usta Dönerci®, Usta Pideci®, and Subway®. Alpaslan, was appointed as TAB Gıda CMO in March 2023. Caner Alpaslan, an experienced professional in the industry, has contributed to the development of consumer and customer marketing in many areas such as commercial marketing, international promotions, and brand and sponsorship management, while also distinguishing himself throughout his career by his leadership in implementation processes.

Tarık Mesut YÜZBAŞ Chief Operating Officer - Burger King®

Having joined Burger King® in 2000 as a management trainee, Tarık Mesut Yüzbaş has been serving as the Chief Financial Officer at Burger King® since 2013. With more than 30 years of experience in the tourism and service sectors, Yüzbaş was the Group Manager of Burger King® TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) in 2004, Operations Manager of Burger King® Aegean and Mediterranean Regions in 2006 and Operations Director in 2008. After graduating from the Faculty of Tourism Management at Erciyes University, Yüzbaş completed his Master's Degree in Management and Organization at the Faculty of Business Administration at Çukurova University.

Cihan BIÇAK Chief Operating Officer - Arby's®, Popeyes®

Cihan Bıçak started as a team member at Burger King® in 1996 and has worked as Chief Operating Officer at TAB Food Investments since 2013. After working as a team member, he became a Restaurant Manager, he was then promoted to Senior Restaurant Manager at Nişantaşı Burger King® Restaurant in 2002 and finally to Group Manager in 2003. During his time as Group Manager between 2003 and 2008, he was responsible for nearly 30 restaurants. Between 2008 and 2015, Bıçak worked with 150 different restaurants and dozens of group managers in several regions of Turkey, where he served as the Operations Manager. Bıçak graduated from Anadolu Universitesi with a degree in Business Administration.

Ufuk ERHANOĞLU Senior Operation Manager - Sbarro®, Usta Dönerci®, Usta Pideci®

Ufuk Erhanoğlu joined TAB Food Investments in 1996 as a team member at Ankara Tunalı Hilmi Burger King® Restaurant, then worked as a shift manager at 7th Street Restaurant in 1998 and as a restaurant manager at Bilkent Burger King® Restaurant in 1999. During this time, Erhanoğlu actively participated in many restaurant openings of the fast-growing Burger King® and conducted trainings. In 2001, he moved to TRNC where he was the restaurant manager responsible for TRNC restaurants. he was then appointed TRNC Group Manager in 2006. After returning to Ankara in 2012, he continued serving as the Operations Manager responsible for Burger King® restaurants in Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, TRNC and Georgia. After being named Senior operation manager in 2017, Erhanoğlu, who holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Anadolu University, took over as Operation Director in 2021.