TFI
LEADERSHIP
Board Of Directors
Erhan Kurdoğlu Chairman of the Board
Erhan Kurdoğlu has served as Chairman of the board of directors since founding TFI. Mr. Kurdoğlu worked as Assistant General Coordinator at Ata İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. from 1987 to 1991 before founding Ekur İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in 1993. After founding TFI in 1994, TFI acquired the rights to Burger King in Turkey in 1995. Also in 1995, he founded Fasdat Gıda Dağıtım Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. as the first Ecosystem company. Mr. Kurdoğlu has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami.
Korhan Kurdoğlu Vice President of the Board and CEO
Korhan Kurdoğlu has served on the board of directors as the Vice President of the Board since founding TFI. He is a founding member and shareholder of TFI and also serves as Chief Executive Officer. He is a member of the board of directors for numerous companies owned or controlled by the Kurdoğlu family and a founding shareholder of 35 companies. Mr. Kurdoğlu also serves as the Chairman of Dış Ekonomik İlişkiler Kurulu (External Economic Relations Board) Turkey – China Business Council in Turkey and is the President of China Network at the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD). He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami in 1987 and also holds a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.
Erhan Cansu Board Member
Erhan Cansu, a member of TFI TAB Food Investments since 2016, is also a member of the Board of Directors and CEO at Ekmek Unlu Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş and Ekur et Entegre San. ve Tic. A.Ş. Since 2012, Cansu has been a member of the Board of Directors at Atakey Patates Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş. as well as a manager at Ekur İnşaat A.Ş. and MES Mutfak A.Ş.
Cansu managed the establishment stages of four food production facilities under TFI TAB Food Investments, prior to which he worked for 7 years in the field of building automation at Alarko San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
Cansu is a graduate of Istanbul Technical University Electrical Engineering and graduated from Istanbul University’ Faculty of Business Administration Economics with an honors degree in International Business Administration.
Cansu is a graduate of Istanbul Technical University Electrical Engineering and graduated from Istanbul University’ Faculty of Business Administration Economics with an honors degree in International Business Administration.
Recep Caner Dikici 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.
Murat Demirel Board Member
Mr. Demirel’s experience encapsulates a broad range of international engagements and a proven track record of transforming various businesses within the financial services industry.
Before joining Ata in 2011, he was a Managing Director – Global Head of Commercial Operations at Barclays with responsibility for driving the expansion of its International Wealth Management business through the development and delivery of commercial strategies for the EMEA region. He led the overall sales, business development, and client relationship activities as well as product development efforts. Before his departure, he was responsible for all of the London-based international business.
Before joining Barclays, Mr. Demirel was the General Manager of Citibank (Switzerland) during 2006 and 2008, the second-largest foreign bank in Switzerland with over $30 bln of assets under management covering global clients.
Between 2001 and 2006 he was with UBS in London. As an Executive Director of the Investment Bank, he worked directly under the leadership of the CEO of UBS Warburg in his Strategy & Business Development team responsible for covering the bank’s corporate advisory, institutional equities, fixed income, and private equity businesses.
Prior to that, he spent six years with Goldman Sachs in New York, where he started his career in investment banking focusing on covering financial institutions and working on M&A transactions. Mr. Demirel has served in various locations throughout his career including New York, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
In 2007, while heading Citi Switzerland, Mr. Demirel was selected as one of Market Magazine’s “50 Most Influential Bankers”.Mr. Demirel has a post-graduate degree in Quantitative Economics from Queens College and holds several Honors and Distinguished Service Awards. He completed his secondary school education in Bern, Switzerland.
He speaks fluent English, German, French and Turkish.
Before joining Barclays, Mr. Demirel was the General Manager of Citibank (Switzerland) during 2006 and 2008, the second-largest foreign bank in Switzerland with over $30 bln of assets under management covering global clients.
Between 2001 and 2006 he was with UBS in London. As an Executive Director of the Investment Bank, he worked directly under the leadership of the CEO of UBS Warburg in his Strategy & Business Development team responsible for covering the bank’s corporate advisory, institutional equities, fixed income, and private equity businesses.
Prior to that, he spent six years with Goldman Sachs in New York, where he started his career in investment banking focusing on covering financial institutions and working on M&A transactions. Mr. Demirel has served in various locations throughout his career including New York, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
In 2007, while heading Citi Switzerland, Mr. Demirel was selected as one of Market Magazine’s “50 Most Influential Bankers”.Mr. Demirel has a post-graduate degree in Quantitative Economics from Queens College and holds several Honors and Distinguished Service Awards. He completed his secondary school education in Bern, Switzerland.
He speaks fluent English, German, French and Turkish.
Elmas Melih Araz Board Member
Elmas Melih Araz has served on the board of directors of TFI since 2013 and on the board of directors of Pangaea Foods (China) Holdings Ltd (“BK China”) since 2012. Mr. Araz has been with the Ata Group, a leading privately-owned group with investments mainly in the food and QSR industry, investment banking and real estate development, since 2006. Prior to joining the Ata Group, he worked at Interbank A.Ş., where he served as the Chief Executive Officer for eight years. He previously worked at Citibank N.A., where he served for twelve years there in various roles, including as an FX and Money Market trader in Bahrain, head of the Corporate Banking Group in Turkey, and in New York within Citibank’s Credit Supervision EMEA Division. Mr. Melih Araz also sits on the board of Enka A.Ş., a leading contracting real estate development and energy conglomerate in Turkey. Previously, he served as an independent director of two other public firms in Turkey: Zorlu Energy A.Ş., an energy company that is part of the Zorlu Group, and Senocak A.Ş., an appliance manufacturer. He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics and Public Finance from Ankara University, School of Political Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Kelley School of Business. He also attended Harvard Business School’s Program of Management Development.
Hasan Akçakayalıoğlu Board Member
Hasan Akçakayalıoğlu joined TFI TAB Food Investments as an Independent Board Member in July 2019. Mr. Akçakayalıoğlu had been serving as the Chairman of the Board of Bank Pozitif (Istanbul) since 2002. Concurrently, Akçakayalıoğlu holds the position of Chairman of the Board at C Factoring A.Ş. (Istanbul) and Demir Kyrgyz International Bank (Bishkek), and has been a Board Member of Expo Faktoring A.Ş. since October 2018. Akçakayalıoğlu has served on the boards of various banks and financial institutions in the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey. Previously, he held positions such as a Board Member of TÜSİAD and President of the Turkey Business Council at the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK). Akçakayalıoğlu has also held various managerial roles and CEO positions in different banks and financial institutions. Following his university education, Akçakayalıoğlu worked at the London and Istanbul offices of Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University and has completed an MBA program at Yeditepe University.
Dr. Yılmaz Argüden Board Member
Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, joined TFI TAB Food Investments in 2022 as a strategist, and he is the chairman of ARGE Consulting, a globally recognized consulting firm for various works focused on making institutions sustainable, , developing creative and innovative management strategies, and contributing to society in general.
Argüden advises numerous Turkish and foreign companies on strategy, business excellence, institutionalization, sustainability and governance, and is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Argüden Governance Academy.
Argüden advises numerous Turkish and foreign companies on strategy, business excellence, institutionalization, sustainability and governance, and is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Argüden Governance Academy.
TFI Executives
Kübra Erman Karaca CTO
Kübra Erman Karaca has been working as the Chief Technology Officer since 2014, in addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors of ATP Capital (ATP GSYO) and an Independent Board Member of Index Group.
Karaca previously worked as the CEO of ATP / Tradesoft, the Executive Vice President responsible for Information Technologies at Körfezbank, and has led the change, BPR and unification projects of Doğuş Group Banks. She also worked as a Senior Manager in technology companies of Akbank, Garanti Bank and Yapı Kredi Bank.
Karaca is also a member of the Council of Presidents of TÜBİSAD (Turkish Informatics Industry Association). She was the first woman President of TÜBİSAD Board of Directors serving between October, 2015 - March, 2021, and also the first woman to receive the "Tübisad-TBD Lifetime Award".
Karaca, holds Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Ege University and she completed her education as a TÜBİTAK scholar.
Karaca previously worked as the CEO of ATP / Tradesoft, the Executive Vice President responsible for Information Technologies at Körfezbank, and has led the change, BPR and unification projects of Doğuş Group Banks. She also worked as a Senior Manager in technology companies of Akbank, Garanti Bank and Yapı Kredi Bank.
Karaca is also a member of the Council of Presidents of TÜBİSAD (Turkish Informatics Industry Association). She was the first woman President of TÜBİSAD Board of Directors serving between October, 2015 - March, 2021, and also the first woman to receive the "Tübisad-TBD Lifetime Award".
Karaca, holds Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Ege University and she completed her education as a TÜBİTAK scholar.
Sinan Ünal CMO, TAB Gıda 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 who is married and father of two, is proficient in English and French.
Furkan Ünal CFO, TAB Gıda - Atakey Board Member
Starting his career in a global consultancy firm, Ünal has managed projects in finance, strategy, economy, and management in more than 10 countries on behalf of multinational organizations. Prior to joining TFI TAB Gıda Investments, he served as Kardemir's CFO for 5 years and previously served as the Deputy General Manager and Executive Board Member in charge of Corporate Finance and Investments at AktifBank, and Chief Advisor to the Board of Directors at Taib Bank, a subsidiary of Dubai Group.
He is currently an Independent Member of the Board of Directors in two separate banks in Kazakhstan and Albania, and a Member of the Advisory Board in a company traded on the US Nasdaq stock exchange, where Aramco is among its investors.
After completing his education in Engineering, Mr. Ünal earned an MBA and a Finance Master's degree from Bilgi University. He continues his PhD in Business Administration at the same university.
He is currently an Independent Member of the Board of Directors in two separate banks in Kazakhstan and Albania, and a Member of the Advisory Board in a company traded on the US Nasdaq stock exchange, where Aramco is among its investors.
After completing his education in Engineering, Mr. Ünal earned an MBA and a Finance Master's degree from Bilgi University. He continues his PhD in Business Administration at the same university.
QSR China Executives
Atakan BOZKURT CEO
Atakan Bozkurt began his career at TFI as Business Development and Quality Manager of the group company Fasdat Gıda. From 2006 to 2014, Bozkurt assumed the role of the company`s Purchasing Manager. In 2014, he was appointed as the Chief Shared Service Officer at Burger King China, a position he held until April 2020. Bozkurt holds a Bachelor`s Degree in Engineering from Istanbul University and a Master`s degree from Istanbul Technical University and Kocaeli University. He is currently the CEO of China operations at TFI TAB Food Investments.
Ecosystem Executives
Cem Kurdoğlu CEO, Fasdat
Kurdoğlu started his career as the Purchasing Manager in the Purchasing department of Fasdat Gıda. He was the Deputy Head of Purchasing at TAB Gıda from 2002 to 2004, Head of Purchasing at Fasdat Gıda from 2005, Sales director for Purchasing from 2006 to 2014, and Deputy CEO in charge of all units since 2014. Kurdoğlu is a graduate of Geological Engineering at Istanbul University.
