Today we’d like to introduce you to Cenk Girginol
Hi Cenk, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started in the coffee industry in Turkey after accepting a job offer in 2002. While the coffee industry in Turkey was still underdeveloped, I worked as a trainer and manager in coffee companies until 2010. We established our family company in 2010 and started roasting coffee, and it still continues.
In 2016, I wrote my first book, Coffee from the soil to Cup. A biography book that explains all about coffee. With this book, I won the Best in the World 2016 award by the Goourmand Awards, and then I was also deemed worthy of the Best of the Best award, the best coffee book of the last 25 years. This book translated into English and Chinese and published in America and China. It sold over 20,000 copies in China alone and is still on sale. This book has sold over 30,000 copies in Turkey and continues to be sold with its new version.
In 2019, I wrote my second book “From Coffee to the taste”. This book explained the taste profiles and flavor structure of coffee. The second book, like the first book, won the 2019 Best in the World award by the Gourmand Awards.
In 2020, My third book published in Turkey. It’s name is Loyality Pledge. This book explain all bout Turkish Coffee and Culture with history, receipts,traditional situaitons, art and documents. This book’s cover created by important microart artist in the world Hasan Kale. and won 2020 Best in the World award by Gourmand with 2 categories. Best Coffee Book and Best Illustration.
Now I’m writing 4th and 5th book in the same time and will publish 2025 and 2026.
At the last years I worked on especially Turkish Coffee in the world.4 years ago, A coffee tour was organized with Gizem Şalcıgil and Hasan Kale in New York and Washington. We served and presented Turkish Coffee and Culture on everywhere on the truck. Because Turkish coffee has got a different coffee culture with all details from grinding, roasting,brewing and serving. 2 months ago in Chicago, I held workshops about Turkish coffee for 20 days and All coffee lovers liked the taste of coffee and interested the culture details (for examle fortune telling) and I contunie the workshops in Dubai, USA and Italy. After 23 years later, I still like the work about coffee. Because the coffee is growing and changing…you can learn new things on everyday. Now in Turkey I’m consultant of 4 big international brand abour their coffee organisation …
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The path towards success is always problematic in the beginning. The biggest problem was that at the beginning of my career, the Turkish espresso and filter coffee market was not very developed and people did not know much about these coffees. I overcame these problems by giving continuous training, working very hard and improving myself.
It was also very difficult when I was writing my first book. But when the book was loved and attracted by coffee lovers, it motivated me to write other books. When I won awards, I always focused on doing better. This brought success.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
It is not very easy to write something, speak something and have people read or listen to it. You have to observe very well. You may know a lot about your own business, but what do those who read you want from you? You need to find it. You need to provide detailed information but also need to be understandable and simple. When you synchronize these two concepts very well, what you write or speak begins to attract attention. This brings success.
At the same time, the happiness in your private life is what motivates you positively.
What motivated me was the positive comments made by readers who read the books I wrote. They loved it and then I wrote it.
Awards are of course a very important source of motivation and a great personal pride. But the biggest reward is the time people give to you.
And what makes me happiest is that my name will continue to live on when these books are read 100 years later. This is a beautiful legacy.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood is my mother’s desert and didn’t drink tea 🙂 I remember after 16 yeras oldı, drink coffee all time and I’m working on coffee business for 23 years. It is destiny for me 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: http://cenkgirginol.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cenkgirginol/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cenkrgirginol
