In 2013, after countless meetings around Cihangir, Akaretler, Kadıköy, and Ataşehir, we decided with great excitement and speed to organize the Istanbul Coffee Festival. By 2014, following the first designs, branding efforts, and venue scouting, we held our very first festival at one of Karaköy’s most iconic buildings, Galata Greek Primary School under the motto “All of Istanbul Will Smell Like Coffee.”
Due to the building’s location and historic nature, it wasn’t easy, roasting machines lifted to the terrace by cranes, the aroma of freshly brewed coffees filling classrooms marked by history, live TV and radio broadcasts from inside the building and simultaneous art and cultural events.
Yet, as the first coffee festival ever organized in Turkey, it became an unforgettable experience for every one of us.
We aimed for 5,000 visitors but 14,000 coffee lovers joined us and from that moment on, the Istanbul Coffee Festival went down in history as the first coffee festival in Turkey.
The rich and vibrant program we created truly embodied the spirit of a festival, while also carving out a unique place as the first and only coffee festival of its kind in the world. Thanks to this distinctive format, visitors from around the globe still come to experience our festival today.
In 2015, we moved the event to one of Istanbul’s most iconic venues, Haydarpaşa Station. The magnificent building hosted what was probably one of its final major events before undergoing restoration.
Coffee lovers attending the festival relived the past as they purchased tickets from the old train counters; joined special workshops and training sessions in the main tower; and enjoyed inspiring talks held inside Pullman train compartments. Meanwhile, video installations, art and photography exhibitions and concerts filled the freight cars, while live art performances using coffee beans and a coffee cup exhibition welcomed guests at the main entrance.
Our festival, with the motto “Journey to Coffee,” perfectly suited Haydarpaşa.
In 2016, we moved to Küçük Çiftlik Park, the most important event venue in the heart of Istanbul's European side, under the motto “In the Heart of the City.”
Additionally, in 2015, we held the Ankara Coffee Festival at Bilkent Center in our capital city, the heart of Turkey.
In 2022, we expanded to the magnificent Aegean region: we launched the Bodrum Coffee Festival, followed by İzmir's first coffee festival at the Alsancak Gas Factory Coffee Festival.
Undoubtedly, in addition to continuously producing festivals during this journey, we have also achieved many firsts thanks to our efforts to create an ecosystem. Here are some of the main examples that come to mind:
2015-2017: We published #istcoffeefest, our country's most ambitious festival newspaper, and distributed it free of charge (A2 format, 48-52 pages, 25,000 copies each).
Post-2016: As a festival, we sponsored numerous projects in the field of social responsibility, ranging from drilling water wells in villages in Africa without access to drinking water to supporting education and the disabled workforce. We have always been there for them with special ticket discounts and support for public employees.
In 2018, we published the “Istanbul Coffee Guide,” a first in our country that attracted great interest, and then in 2019, we published the “Turkey Coffee Guide,” Turkey's first coffee guide, which is 300 pages long and contains information on approximately 400 coffee spots.
We brought together the world's most influential coffee opinion leaders, baristas, coffee shop owners, roasters, and producers in Istanbul. It was a great honor for us that the SCA Vice President came from Seattle to deliver the opening speech at our festival in 2018.
From 2014 to 2019, we hosted and sponsored the SCA Turkey Championships.
In 2017, we distributed specialty coffee across the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Central Anatolia regions of Turkey using our custom-designed and manufactured caravan, “Bean on Wheel.” Brands supporting the project included Hyundai, Pınar, La Marzocco, Hario, Probador Collectiva, and Paşabahçe.
In Çeşme, we held special events featuring coffee and cocktail gatherings.
We created the “Coffee Weekend” brand specifically for weekend events and brought it to life in many locations.
2021: While the effects of the global pandemic continued, we held the Istanbul Coffee Summit, our country's first digital summit dedicated to the coffee industry, with our project partner VERUS. We organized 72 events with 62 local and international speakers on the B2B platform, and also held a product launch and a closed screening of the HEROES film. We made all sessions available on YouTube.
In 2024, we added a new city to our coffee journey; Antalya. In a short time, it became a place where the aroma of coffee, music and energetic coffee lovers come together.
Thanks to our strong media and PR communications, the coffee sector gained visibility. We generated thousands of pages of print and digital content, hundreds of interviews, live TV and radio broadcasts, podcasts, and news stories. We amplified the communications of independent coffee shops and brands and featured coffee-focused designs and designers.
As a result, we have created incredible events in the fields of coffee, art, and music, and have welcomed over half a million visitors to date. This ecosystem we have created has transformed into a huge, living, breathing event involving coffee lovers, including coffee brands, machine manufacturers, coffee shops, roasters, coffee professionals, importers, and product/service exporters.
We closed every festival with gratitude to everyone involved in the coffee industry worldwide, from coffee workers to baristas, roasters, and investors. We believed in this and continued to support it. Thanks to this approach, we inspired numerous events; however, we succeeded in becoming the leading brand that sets and manages the trend. Our main focus has always been the coffee bean, and we never changed that. While leveraging the power of industry giants, we always gave a significant share to entrepreneurial and independent shops and roasters.
We closed every festival with gratitude to everyone involved in the coffee industry worldwide, from coffee workers to baristas, roasters, and investors. We believed in this and continued to support it. Thanks to this approach, we inspired numerous events; however, we succeeded in becoming the leading brand that sets and manages the trend. Our main focus has always been the coffee bean, and we never changed that. While leveraging the power of industry giants, we always gave a significant share to entrepreneurial and independent shops and roasters.
We extend our deepest gratitude to our friends and colleagues whose support has been indispensable in these early days: Ayşin Aydoğdu, Çetin Gürer, Mert Soley, Aslı Yaman, Çağatay Gülabioğlu, Kaan Bergsen, Fatih Topuz, Güvenç Usta, İbrahim Şimşek, and Özkan Yetik, Koray Erdoğdu, and Nisan Ağca, who never refused to help whenever we reached out. To those who have been by our side since day one: Murat Kolbaşı, Hakan Göney, Sonat Sonuk, Mehmet Gürs, Gökmen Sozen, Tuğba Munzur, Kağan İzmirlioğlu, Mehmet Akdağ, SCA Turkey management and team. For their significant financial support and genuine love of coffee: Türk Telekom Prime, Hyundai, Bilkent Center, Media Markt, Pınar Süt, Uludağ Su, AO Smith, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi,Kütahya Porselen, Nestlé Türkiye, La Marzocco, Mocca Master, Mahlkönig, La Cimbali, Aeropress, HARIO, Chemex, Nilky, Kroom Kitchen, Promo Cup, Arçelik, and Arzum.
We extend our deepest respect and gratitude to Bitexen, Axess and Paşabahçe for their long-standing support over the years, to all the brands you will see on these pages, and to the coffee lovers who shared their wonderful moments with us with their smiling faces and coffee.
We continue to do our utmost for the growth of the industry. The unifying power of coffee will continue to inspire us.
Stay with coffee, stay with love and health.
Dream Sales Machine Team
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