When Birol Altinkilic decided to create a cocoa processing company in 1992, he did so knowing the risks involved. After all, despite having traded cocoa beans with his father and then on his own, it’s a far cry from being a middle man to a manager of manufacturing.
Altinkilic, however, believed the timing was right. The Turkish government’s ongoing efforts to liberalize the economy offered an opportunity to get in at the ground level. In addition, given his contacts in cocoa bean trading, Altinkilic had relationships with cocoa bean suppliers as well as cocoa bean users.