Corporate > The unchanging taste of Karaköy
The unchanging taste of Karaköy
Güllü Family has been in baklava business since 1800’s. It is known that Hacı Mehmed Güllü who is called “Güllü Çelebi” is the first in the family to start to production of baklava.
Making and selling desserts has always been important in Gaziantep.When Güllü Çelebi entered this business he went to Damascus and Aleppo which were very famous for desserts to learn more about the details making baklava. He stayed there for 6 months and learned a lot about baklava. When he came back he set up his own stall . After his death his son Hacı Mahmud Güllü continued his father’s business and started making baklava with a thin sheet of dough made by a roller.When Hacı Mahmud Güllü’s four sons continued their father’s business the making of baklava became a family tradition.
In 1930’s Güllü family started to send baklava to other nearby cities. This made the family known in wide area. The grandson of Hacı Mahmud Güllü ,Mustafa Güllü , thus decided to carry the business to Istanbul. The first shop in Karaköy in 1949 is also the first baklava shop outside Gaziantep.
In the following years the business became widespread and now there are lots of shops all over. Some of these shops belong to the members of Güllü family and some to the experts who grew up in the shop.
When Mustafa Güllü tells about the first days of the shop he always mentions how hard it was those days to find a customer. Most of the people in Istanbul didn’t know baklava those days. The ones who knew and tasted it had tried baklavas which were not fresh and so they didn’t like baklava. Mustafa Güllü had a hard time changing the concept of baklava.
Mustafa Usta says:
‘For a few years we offered free baklava. To offer free baklava we handed out leaflets in the street. The kilo of baklava was 5 TL . We took orders by phone from Taksim, Nişantaş and Şişli and we sent the orders without charging extra. Mustafa Usta advertised baklava by showing an advertisement film in Atlas movie as well as advertising in newspapers and magazines. He even had ads hung onto the walls of subway and trams. He says : But our real advertisement were the people who tasted our baklava.
Mustafa Usta’s efforts started to pay off after 1953. The shop moved to Havyar Han no 23. In 1970’s one of the shops on the ground floor of the car park in karaköy was also rented . In 1990 our company became an incorporation and adopted the trade name “Güllüoğlu Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş.” But it is still known as “Karaköy Güllüoğlu” and distinguished from other firms known as “Güllüoğlu”.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu which started as a small shop in Karaköy in 1949 now is the owner of the first baklava factory in the world. Still in Karaköy on Mumhane street no.171 it can produce more than 2.5 tons of baklava.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu has only two shops one in the basement of the factory and the other in the ground floor of the car park in Karaköy. The ones who are specialists in baklava come to Karaköy from all over Istanbul.Karaköy Güllüoğlu has regular customers who never give up the taste of our baklava. There are people who come and buy their baklava from Karaköy Güllüoğlu for over 50 years.
Mustafa Usta, a master, died in 2012. Four of the five sons of Hacı Mustafa is in their father’s business. The oldest son Nejat Güllü founded his own shop in 1983 in Kadiköy. Another son Faruk Güllü left the factory in 1993. Nadir and Ömer Güllü stayed with their father in Karaköy.
Nadir Güllü has been dreaming a factory size production center for baklava. When he was the head of the business he set out to realize his dream. He founded the factory on Mumhane street in 1966.
Yes Karaköy which is the center of banking and commerce has also become the center of baklava since 1949. Karaköy Güllüoğlu is a different falvor and color in this bustling business center. It is also a part of the neighorhood.
A lot has been lost and changed in Karaköy since 1949 but Karaköy Güllüoğlu is still there with its unique taste.
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