ETİ began production in 1962 in a factory personally designed by Firuz KANATLI, our founder and honorary president. This marked the beginning of many historic steps in ETİ’s growth and development. ETİ has always been on the leading edge of innovation in the sector, investing to provide better products to the Turkish public. On this culinary journey, ETİ has produced a string of products that are both tasty and memorable. These include Burçak, Turkey’s first digestive/high-fiber cookie; Etimek, the first ready-made toast; Cake Slice with Raisins, Fruit and Cocoa, the first industrial-type cake; Turti, the first packaged tart; Pronot, the first gluten-free cookie; and Brownie, the first moist cake. In addition, the slogan "Children, I have a riddle,” created by composer and lyricist Oktay Tem, won the hearts of the public.

Over the years, ETİ has not only constantly expanded its product range, it has also won many awards. In 2003, company founder Firuz Kanatlı adopted TPM (Total Productivity Management) for the factory administration, calling it a “War of Civilization”. ETİ won the “TPM Award” from the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance five times for its excellent implementation of TPM. The ETİ Cookie Plant won the “TPM Excellence Award” and the “Excellence in Consistent TPM Commitment Award”, while the Tam Gıda, Bozüyük and Chocolate Plants won the “TPM Excellence Award”. Many other similar awards have been won, thanks to ETİ employees who are organized, meticulous and hard working.

As one of Turkey’s largest food producers, ETİ has carried out numerous social responsibility projects because of its concern for the community. Some of these include:

Thousands of young people have been educated and continue to receive education at the Hacı Ahmet Kanatlı Anatolian High School, which was opened by ETİ Honorary President Firuz Kanatlı in Eskişehir in memory of his father.

In conjunction with the ÇEKÜL Foundation, our social responsibility project entitled the “ETİ ÇEKÜL Cultural Ambassadors” will train up approximately 4,000 Turkish children as cultural ambassadors over the next five years to protect Turkish cultural and social values that are on the verge of being forgotten.

The “ETİ Children’s Ferry” provides a week of training each year to the 300 children protected by the Social Services and Child Protection Agency.

ETİ has always been a leader in protecting cultural values, so we initiated the “Castle Lighting Project” that provides for exterior lighting at the Rumeli and Anatolian Castles for five years starting in 2005.

The Konya Basin raises most of Turkey’s grain and is also hit the hardest by drought caused by global climate change, so ETİ Burçak and WWF-Turkey cooperated on the “Konya Basin Modern Irrigation Project” in order to preserve water resources in this region.

The ETİ Children’s Theatre has put on free plays for over one million children since 2001.

ETİ started production with 20 employees and a daily capacity of only three tons. Today, it has become a giant company with five factories, exporting nearly 300 products under 45 brand names all over the world. ETİ will carry its Culinary Civilization into the future with the strength that comes from the trust and respect that you as our customers have placed in us.