Belgin Kaplan, together with her brother Birol Kaplan, runs one of the largest German doner kebab companies.
She got into the business when she was only 21. Your balance sheet is impressive.
Not only did she increase the proportion of women in the company, she also promoted international expansion and designed a “more modern” form of the kebab shop.
The doner kebab belongs to Germany like the currywurst. Even Elon Musk knows that. When asked on Twitter in 2020 what his “favourite German meal” was, the Tesla boss replied: “Doner kebab”.
But the doner kebab has long been more than food culture. It is also an important economic factor.
Belgin Kaplan is one who practically grew up with the doner kebab. Her father, Remzi Kaplan, founded his company “Kaplan Döner” in 1989. Remzi, who came to Germany in the early 1970s as a child of a guest worker, initially sold groceries at a market in Kreuzberg in the 1980s. After the Wall came down, he started selling the first kebabs in East Berlin.