With a new initiative planned for food and beverage service providers to be sustainably certified under the successful implementation of Türkiye’s Sustainable Tourism Program, the country demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainability in gastronomy. It also features ten restaurants achieving the MICHELIN Green Star in just 2 years and an increasing number of geographically indicated products.
Türkiye has embarked on an ambitious journey to champion gastronomic sustainability, blending its rich culinary heritage with modern eco-conscious practices. Already a pioneer in sustainable tourism with over 19,000 verified and certified accommodation facilities, the country is now preparing a new module of the Sustainable Tourism Program for food and beverage service providers to accelerate the industry’s sustainable transformation. The fact that ten restaurants in the country have been awarded MICHELIN Green Star in a mere 2 years, and the number of Türkiye’s geographically marked products is on the rise demonstrates that Türkiye’s culinary sector is also ready for a 100% sustainable future.
GSTC-Criteria for Food and Beverage Service Providers
In 2022, Türkiye became the world’s first country to sign an agreement with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) at the government level to prepare a national Sustainable Tourism Program. Since then, Türkiye has been carrying out the program in stages to ensure that facilities in Türkiye comply with global sustainability practices in gradual transitions. Today, more than 17,500 accommodation facilities in the country are verified, and 1,300 are certified according to GSTC Criteria. Thanks to such efforts, Türkiye has achieved a leading position in sustainability on global indices. According to the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024 results, the country ranked 29th out of 119 countries. Following its success in implementing this program, Türkiye is now taking an exemplary step further for the transformation of tourism in a sustainable way by supporting GSTC in developing a new set of criteria for food and beverage service providers. This new set of GSTC Criteria will serve as the industry’s global sustainability standard for food and beverage service providers. Besides supporting the development of industry standards for sustainable gastronomy at the worldwide level, Türkiye also carries out essential works for sustainable certifications of restaurants under Türkiye’s Sustainable Tourism Program. Türkiye plans to launch a pilot program that will apply the GSTC Industry Criteria with localised and revised indicators to assess the feasibility of sustainable certification for Türkiye’s restaurants.
10 Michelin Green Star Restaurants
Additionally, Türkiye’s new-generation chefs and restaurateurs dedicatedly create a gastronomic scene deeply connected to the cultural roots of Anatolian lands. They preserve the Turkish culinary heritage, bringing it to the future through many modern dish interpretations emphasising trailblazing sustainability. Hence, they are deemed worthy of MICHELIN Green Stars, which are awarded to restaurants most committed to eco-responsible gastronomy. The MICHELIN Guide 2024 selection for Türkiye included four establishments. The guide’s 2025 selection recognized the initiatives and endeavours of 6 additional establishments, bringing the country’s total number of Green Star restaurants to 10.
Türkiye’s MICHELIN Green Star awarded restaurants can be viewed at: https://guide.michelin.com/tr/tr/selection/turkey/restaurants/sustainable_gastronomy
Deliciously Sustainable
The foundations of Türkiye’s sustainable heritage are the geographically marked, local, and qualified foods from 81 provinces found in ecological markets. The geographically marked products from regions and provinces around Türkiye illustrate the ecologically sustainable flavour tradition through natural production methods and quality. Türkiye has 2,218 products registered by the Turkish Patent Institute and 29 by the European Union (EU). Besides, local dishes of Turkish regions are still prepared according to their original recipes passed over from generation to generation and with traditional cooking methods, protecting all the vitamins and minerals for the utmost taste and texture. This means one can taste the original dishes from hundreds of years ago in these lands. ///nCa, 2 January 2025 (in cooperation with the Embassy of Turkiye to Turkmenistan)