Despite Turkey's deep-rooted tradition of fermenting meat and dairy products, for years nearly all of the starter cultures used at industrial scale were imported. The founding story of İnovatif Biyoteknoloji Kimya ve Sağlık A.Ş. begins with questioning exactly that dependency.
The beginning: an R&D idea at İÜ Technopark
Our company was founded in 2016 under a KOSGEB R&D project. A team combining the academic depth of İstanbul University faculty, field experience from industry representatives, and graduate researchers came together at the İÜ Technology Development Zone. The shared question was clear: why doesn't Turkey have a starter culture of its own, built for its own traditional fermented meat products?
That question became the foundation of an R&D project titled "Starter Culture Combination Suited to the Turkish Palate for Fermented Meat Products."
From regional isolation to industrial scale
The project team collected sucuk and pastırma samples produced through traditional methods across different regions of Anatolia. The lactic acid bacteria and cocci isolated from these samples were characterized in the lab: pH-lowering speed, pathogen-inhibition capacity, absence of biogenic amine production, and aroma contribution were tested strain by strain.
From there, the work moved from the lab to the factory floor. Prototype culture combinations were trialed on real production lines, at industrial scale — because a starter culture succeeding in the lab doesn't guarantee the same performance under industrial conditions. These field trials were decisive in finalizing the combinations.
The birth of BAKTOGARD®
The starter culture combination that emerged after years of R&D was commercialized under the BAKTOGARD® brand, registered with the Turkish Patent Institute. Today, the BAKTOGARD® Sucuk Series holds the distinction of being the first domestic fermented-sucuk starter culture produced at industrial scale in Turkey.
Building on that success, we launched the PAST-BİYO project, carrying the same scientific approach into pastırma production and developing the BAKTOGARD® Pastırma Series.
What comes next: from domestic R&D to a global player
Our vision goes beyond being a leading company in Turkey — we want to be recognized internationally as a domestically rooted brand among the global players customers choose. Getting there means producing concrete solutions that reduce the food industry's dependence on imports, without ever cutting corners on academic rigor.
A story that began in a technopark office in 2016 continues today as an effort to set a biotechnological standard in Turkey's fermented meat sector.