COOKSHOP Becomes Major Partner of Turkey’s First Door-to-Door Healthy Meal Plan Service, Rafinera, and Rafinera Cloud Kitchen

Foreks - COOKSHOP continues its globalization, institutionalization, and sustainable growth strategy with new acquisitions and partnerships. COOKSHOP has become a major partner of Rafinera (RSY), a pioneer in the healthy meal delivery sector with over 17 years of experience, and Rafinera Cloud Kitchen (RCK), established three years ago with a unique business model aligned with global chain restaurant trends focused on cloud kitchens.

Having previously received support from 15 valuable investors, including Nevzat Aydın, Ahmet Özokur, Tuba Yazıcı, Emre Karaca, Damla Şener Akkaynak, Aret Parunakyan, Ece Elbirlik Ürkmez, and Bülent Aksu, Rafinera will continue to rapidly grow and expand its service network with strategic investments led by COOKSHOP.

COOKSHOP targets to quickly increase the number of branches of RCK, which operates over 30 brands appealing to different tastes through food platforms, starting with Istanbul and then expanding to other cities. The goal is to reach 100 cloud kitchens nationwide.

With this partnership, COOKSHOP classics will also be served from RCK cloud kitchens, and Rafinera's industry-referenced healthy flavors will be featured on COOKSHOP menus, presenting new meal plans developed by the brand's touch.

The COOKSHOP Brand Community aims to increase the number of its existing 65 branches opened with equity to 100 within three years, while also aiming to establish the taste and delivery-focused cloud kitchen brand RCK across 100 cloud kitchens throughout Turkey.

To date, the COOKSHOP Brand Community has served 2.5 million guests through its 65 branches across 4 sub-brands, while Rafinera and its sub-brands have served 1 million guests. By integrating Rafinera and RCK into its value chain, COOKSHOP is steadily approaching its goal of serving 25 million people annually within three years.

With this new investment, COOKSHOP aims to serve a broader audience and steadily grow its market penetration sustainably.

Ayşe Kazancı: “We are strengthening our power with new investments” Ayşe Kazancı, Founder and Chairman of the Board of COOKSHOP, which entered the restaurant industry with the principle of developing innovative concepts and offering the best in its service segments, stated, "We continue to take significant steps towards growth through strategic acquisitions and partnerships. In this context, we are expanding our service network and strengthening our customer base by integrating leading companies in their sectors, like Rafinera. With the cloud kitchen-based services provided by Rafinera, which offer a new business model and vision within the fast-service restaurant world, we are also expanding our operational area. These moves, carried out within the framework of our brand's globalization, institutionalization, and sustainable growth strategy, enable us to strengthen our workforce and technological infrastructure in line with our goal of providing innovative solutions, while also playing a significant role in achieving our ambitious future targets."

Kazancı emphasized that they are rapidly moving towards their ambitious targets by strengthening their new investment strategies and growing teams, with plans for new brand and branch openings, expansion in different locations, and strategies for entering international markets.

Inspiring partnership from women entrepreneurs Emphasizing the importance of women's presence in the entrepreneurship habitat, Ayşe Kazancı remarked, "As a female entrepreneur, it is particularly exciting for me to see women entrepreneurs in our country doing significant work and rising. I am very happy to work with a female entrepreneur in our strategic partnership with Rafinera. Rafinera CEO Didem Altınbaşak Tulgan has captured a first in the service area, turning it into an initiative that has been recognized in the business world, especially by Endeavor. We will continue to grow under the COOKSHOP roof, striving towards new goals together."

Rafinera CEO Didem Altınbaşak Tulgan expressed her excitement about the partnership with COOKSHOP, one of Turkey's most beloved brands. She continued, "For over 17 years, we have worked hard to establish Rafinera as a reference point in the niche sector we serve. With our partnership with COOKSHOP and our goal of reaching 100 branches, we will quickly progress towards expanding our presence in the market and further strengthening our position through our planned new initiatives." Tulgan noted that women entrepreneurs are making a difference with their visions and increasingly adding value to the economy, stating, "I strongly believe that we will further expand this vision with COOKSHOP and showcase our power and abilities as women entrepreneurs across the country."

What is a Cloud Kitchen? Defined as a commercial kitchen space that provides the necessary facilities and services for food businesses for delivery and takeout, a Cloud Kitchen is a kitchen model consisting only of cooking spaces where food production and preparation processes take place, but does not provide physical customer service (like cafes or restaurants). This model has gained attention in recent years.

These facilities are typically located in densely populated areas and host various restaurant brands. Unlike traditional restaurants, cloud kitchens operate solely through online orders without needing a physical reception area, often described as a food technology (foodtech) business model.