From traditional borek pastries to soups of all sorts, sausages and pasta, to slices of melon and rich puddings — anybody who’s ever been to Turkey on vacation is well acquainted with the many and varied delights of the typical breakfast buffet, particularly those found in Turkish tourist hot spots.
Turkish hotels understand the allure of the buffet and will often decorate their websites with pictures of this kind of culinary offering. It’s also why many German tourists decide on all-inclusive trips — that is, one price for accommodation and all meals — where food is served around the clock, to suit every taste and every age. It can be particularly cost-effective for families and may even make for a sort of gourmet adventure because the buffets allow guests to try all kinds of local snacks repeatedly.
But still, a large proportion of that food ends up in the trash.
New rules for Turkish breakfasts
That may soon change. Turkish media are reporting that advisors to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be taking a closer look at restaurant and hotel all-you-can-eat buffets and particularly the traditionally large Turkish breakfast. The country’s Presidential Council for Agriculture and Food Policy is working on new regulations to prevent this kind of food waste.
According to the latest report by the non-governmental organization the Waste Prevention Foundation of Turkey (TISVA), around 8.7 million tons of food are thrown out annually in Turkey. According to TISVA, reducing that level of waste by just 2% could supply 360,000 families with basic foodstuffs for a year.
The amount of food wasted daily is of particular note. On average, every person in Turkey throws away around 102 kilograms (225 pounds) of food annually. That is a huge amount for a country that’s been dealing with economic problems and inflation for several years now. In comparison, Germans only throw away around 78 kilograms per person annually, and the worldwide average sits at 132 kilograms.
Breakfast an issue of ‘national secuirty’
Turkish restaurateur Ramazan Bingol, a member of the aforementioned Presidential Council for Agriculture and Food Policy, is particularly critical of Turkey’s traditionally huge breakfasts.
Called “Serpme Kahvalti” in Turkish, which means something like “mixed breakfast” in English, it has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Each guest is usually served between 15 and 20 small plates filled with cheese, cold meats, jams, honey, cream, butter and pickled vegetables. Additionally, there will be fried potatoes, borek pastries filled with cheese, spinach or meat, fried eggs and other regional specialties.
Bingol isn’t impressed by this cornucopia, mostly because, in his view, around half of what’s served ends up being thrown away. In his opinion, that’s why these huge breakfasts need to be reined in.
He suggests that the tourist menu shouldn’t offer just one standard breakfast package. Instead, every guest should be allowed to create their own breakfast package from the available items.
For example, Bingol points out, “a diabetic can’t possibly eat three or four jars of jam. Nevertheless, with this concept, they all automatically end up on the table and in the trash.”
The expert is also calling for more flexibility when it comes to the bill. At the moment, breakfast guests pay a set sum per person, which means one person always gets the same number of dishes served. However a group of three guests might easily be satisfied with a breakfast for two, which would also mean a lot less food wasted.
Bingol explains that it’s not just about the food. It’s also about the raw materials, energy, working hours and environmental damage these huge breakfasts cause. The breakfast buffet has become a matter of national security, he argues.
Hotels are not biggest food wasters
Bingol adds that all-you-can-eat buffets at tourist resorts and hotels should also be more carefully regulated. Establishments should move into more à la carte dining, where guests choose a dish from a menu and decide how much food they actually need.
In all-inclusive hotels and resorts, guests are confronted with a multitude of interesting tastes, smells and colors. They often want to try a bit of everything, but Bingol notes that a lot often gets left on the plate and thrown out.
Despite the plan for new rules at the hotel buffet, the biggest sinners when it comes to food waste worldwide are still private households. These generate around 60% of food waste. The remaining 40% comes from the service sector and retail. This is also true for Turkey.
According to reports, Bingol and the other presidential advisors plan to draft proposals on food waste reduction over the next two months and present them to Erdogan. Whether their proposals become law remains to be seen, though.
The potential regulations have already made headlines in Russia and Germany, not least because most holidaymakers heading for Turkey come from Russia, Germany or the United Kingdom.
Conflict of interest for breakfast rulemakers?
The Association of Tour Operators of Russia, or ATOR, was quick to try to reassure Russian travelers. The buffet regulations are just suggestions at the moment, made by an advisory council without any authority, it said.
ATOR also pointed out a potential conflict of interest. Bingol heads TURES, the All Restaurants and Tourism Association, which represents Turkey’s food and beverage sector. As long as hotels offer these generous all-inclusive meal packages, ATOR claimed, fewer tourists will go to local restaurants.
ATOR also pointed out that the country’s minister of tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, owns several large hotels that offer all-inclusive packages. ATOR suggested that it would be naive to think he would allow this system to be abolished.
According to official government statistics, Turkey’s tourism revenues grew by 8.3% in 2024 to hit $61.1 billion (€52.5 billion), a record for the country
Of those, the most tourists, around 9.6 million, were foreign nationals of Turkish origin. They were followed by visitors from Russia (6.7 million), Germans (6.6 million) and Britons (4.4 million).
This article was originally written in German.
