Food Safety Board

As for other living things in nature, nutrition is one of the basic needs of humans and to meet this need, humans should have access to safe food. In other words, an edible product for humans must be safe, clean and consumable. 

In summary, food safety means protecting food from any hazard that may lead to contamination causing harm to human health and taking precautions to keep it clean and unspoiled throughout the process, starting from the field to people's tables. The hazards mentioned above can be caused by physical factors as well as chemical and microbiological factors.

Food Safety Board and Our Approach to Food Safety 

In line with the notion "I neither manufacture nor trade any product that my children or I do not consume" of our late founder Sabri Ülker while establishing the company, Ülker has paid utmost attention to ensuring that its raw materials and products are of high quality, clean and halal ever since the first day of the production started. As a result, today, product or brands under Yıldız Holding are identified with the characteristics "quality and trust", which owes a lot to this approach and the accompanying sensitivity, which have been adopted since our company's establishment. 

Today, consumers have diverse and somewhat new demands and expectations regarding the food products they consume, in line with their lifestyles, dietary preferences and religious beliefs. These demands and expectations are centred around the notion that the foods they consume should conform to their beliefs, lifestyles, high quality, clean and safe. 
 
At Yıldız Holding, we consider it a "human right" to meet food safety requirements in line with consumers' demands and preferences and legal regulations. In line with our approach as mentioned earlier and sensitivity, and as the food business of Yıldız Holding has expanded and become diversified, the need to establish an internal body in order to deal with the issues regarding Food Safety, Food Defense and Halal Food instead of the individual efforts of each production facility, and to implement and monitor Holding's corporate strategies and policies rapidly, has arisen. Subsequently, the Food Safety Board has been established to address these issues from a centralized perspective. 

We have set out several global standards and systems associated with Food Safety, Food Defense and Consumers' Sensitivities (e.g. Halal, Kosher, Vegetarian/Vegan) to protect and develop the legacy of our founders and pass it on to generations to come. Under the umbrella of Yıldız Holding Food Safety Board, we monitor the implementation of these standards and systems, control their efficacy and efficiency, and ensure their continuity and excellence. 

For further information on Yıldız Holding Food Safety Board, its functions and practices, please visit www.ggk.com.tr 

Honor and Ethics Committee

Honor and Ethics Committee consists of one chairman and three members, and is established to conduct investigations and inquiries in order to make the ultimate decision regarding the rewarding/punishment of positive/negative attitudes and behaviors of the personnel working in Yıldız Holding and its affiliates, who are not a party to a collective bargaining agreement.
 
Honor and Ethics Committee conducts inspections, inquiries and investigations about all sorts of practices and transactions conveyed to the Board, of the personnel, who are not a party to a collective bargaining agreement. It makes decisions about the type and content of rewards or punishments. Leveraging the decisions about the cases that are notified to the Board, the Board lists its recommendations required to ensure that the personnel, who are not a party to a collective bargaining agreement, conduct their work in accordance with the legislation, plans and programs, followed by the presentation of these recommendations to the Chairman of the Board. In case that an incident occurs outside Turkey, the Board may choose to appoint case-specific or permanent reporters to perform the Board’s aforementioned duties and investigate the case within the framework of the ethical norms and legislations that the relevant Company should comply with. If it deems necessary, it can separately address these inquiries and investigations in terms of the policies, principles and business practices, and make an ultimate decision about the case. 

The Code of Ethics and Business Conduct for Yıldız Holding and its affiliates, created within the scope of Ethics and Integrity Board, sets forth the total of moral and ethical behaviors based on integrity and which types of behavior are acceptable and encouraged and which are to be avoided. The purpose of Yıldız Holding’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct is to create a common corporate culture on business ethics and to raise consciousness, sensitivity and awareness on this issue. The Code of Ethics aims to present guiding principles in order for all parties in business processes to act with not only legal and commercial responsibility but also ethical responsibility. Yıldız Holding’s Code of Ethics governs relations of customers, employees, shareholders, business partners, Suppliers with each other and with our competitors, public institutions and society.   

Information Security Board

The Information Security Board carries out the review, audit and decision processes aimed at ensuring the security of information assets at Yıldız Holding, effectively implementing information security policies and procedures, investigating potential violations and eliminating risks. The Information Security Board has the authority to review, investigate and investigate all activities related to the company's information systems and processes, and acts with the same authority and responsibility by observing the relevant country legislation and global information security standards (ISO 27001, NIST CSF etc.); determines corrective and preventive actions in line with critical findings, appoints those responsible and, when necessary, presents the issue to the approval of the Holding's Chairman of the Board.

Yıldız Holding Information Security Policy established within the scope of the Information Security Board, determine the rules of conduct that must be followed or avoided; they are based on the principle of protecting confidentiality, integrity and accessibility, and honesty. The purpose of these principles is to create a common corporate culture on information security, to increase awareness and consciousness, and to ensure that all stakeholders of the Holding (employees, customers, suppliers, business partners and shareholders) fulfill their ethical, legal and technical responsibilities at the highest standards. The policy guides processes such as the classification of information assets, access management, third-party security, cyber incident management, data protection and processing of personal data; thus, it secures the business continuity, reputation and relations with stakeholders of Yıldız Holding.