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Invest HatayInvest Hatayby Burç Consulting

Gastronomy & Food Investments

Antakya's status as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy gives Hatay a strong investment opportunity built on its culinary identity, from restaurants to food export centers.

Why Invest in Gastronomy in Hatay?

Antakya cuisine's internationally recognized flavors, like künefe, hummus, muhammara and oruk, give a newly opened gastronomy business ready-made brand value and visitor interest. That recognition creates favorable ground for concepts appealing to both local and international tourist demand.

The current population movement driven by reconstruction is increasing demand for everyday food and restaurant services, while the region's olive oil and agricultural production offers a raw-material base for investments like premium food brands and food export centers.

A Mediterranean meze spread (illustrative image)

Investable Sub-Types

The main investment types worth considering in gastronomy and food.

Gastronomy center
Restaurant investment
Franchise restaurant
Gastronomy market
Food court
Central kitchen
Food production facility
Local product brand
Food export center
Premium food brand
Catering facility

Opportunities worth exploring in depth:

Antakya Cuisine Restaurant & Gastronomy Center InvestmentRegional Food Brand & Export Center InvestmentFranchise Restaurant & Food Court InvestmentCentral Kitchen & Catering Facility InvestmentPremium Food Brand InvestmentGastronomy Market & Bazaar Investment

Where Can You Invest?

Districts that stand out for gastronomy and food investment.

Antakya (Uzun Çarşı and center)

The primary district for restaurant and gastronomy market investments, close to the historic fabric.

Defne

Everyday restaurant and food court demand in new residential areas.

Kırıkhan and Altınözü

Proximity to raw material sources for olive oil and local product brand investments.

İskenderun

A logistics advantage for food export center investments, given its port connection.

Investment Models

Different ways to bring your gastronomy investment to life.

01

Direct Establishment

Leasing or buying a property to set up your own restaurant/gastronomy business.

02

Franchise / Brand Partnership

Taking on regional operation of a national or international restaurant chain.

03

Local Brand Development

Bringing Antakya cuisine to market as a packaged product under your own brand.

04

Joint Venture (JV)

Partnering with a local producer or chef to combine authenticity and capital.

Licensing & Permit Process

The core steps to complete before opening a gastronomy/food facility.

  • Business opening and operating license (municipality)
  • Food safety certificate and food registry certificate
  • Alcohol sales license, if applicable
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry production permit for food production facilities
  • Required certifications for export (geographical indication, halal, organic)
  • Zoning status and commercial-use suitability for the building

Incentives & Support

Region 6 incentives apply to food production facilities too. Gastronomy investments with a tourism component (gastronomy centers, food courts) can also access tourism incentive mechanisms.

Tourism Investment ConsultingInvestment Incentive Consulting

Local Stakeholders

The main institutions you'll be in contact with during the process.

Relevant municipal licensing unit
Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry
Hatay Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Olive oil and agricultural producer unions
Food safety inspection bodies
Local chefs and gastronomy experts

Our Feasibility Approach

The feasibility of a gastronomy investment rests on data like location and foot traffic, concept-audience fit, property lease/purchase cost against kitchen equipment investment, and access to the local supply chain.

Our feasibility work turns your concept idea into a concrete opening plan and a realistic budget.

From the official data

Distribution of Food Businesses by District

According to the district table in the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry's 2025 Activity Report, the number of food businesses registered with district directorates totals 10,825. İskenderun (1,650) and Antakya (1,470) rank first and second.

IndicatorValueYearSource
İskenderun1,6502025[1]
Antakya1,4702025[1]
Samandağ1,2332025[1]
Arsuz1,2202025[1]
Defne1,0592025[1]
Dörtyol9162025[1]
Reyhanlı6012025[1]
Kırıkhan5352025[1]
Altınözü4492025[1]
Hassa3732025[1]
Yayladağı3482025[1]
Payas3292025[1]
Belen3082025[1]
Erzin2682025[1]
Kumlu662025[1]

What does this data mean for an investor?

The top four districts (İskenderun, Antakya, Samandağ, Arsuz) hold 51% of businesses. It is notable that Samandağ and Arsuz rank ahead of the more populous Defne and Dörtyol, which suggests food production and sales are registered more densely in coastal districts than population alone would predict (interpretation). It is a starting point for reading competitive density district by district for restaurant, central-kitchen or food-brand investments.

Limitation: The count is registered food businesses subject to inspection; the type (restaurant, producer, retail) and size of business are not in the table. The “2025 realisation” and “2026 target” columns of the same table may relate to the inspection programme and were not used. A further 688 businesses are registered with the provincial Food and Feed Branch and are not allocated to districts.

Pages related to this data

Sources

  1. [1] Hatay Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, 2025 Activity Report (data period: 2024–2025)

Tourism: Pre-Earthquake Baseline and the Development Agency's 2025 Records

According to the Hatay Provincial Tourism Strategy and Action Plan of the Eastern Mediterranean Development Agency (DOĞAKA), Hatay had 45 tourism-licensed accommodation facilities, 2,273 rooms and 4,602 beds in 2016 data. These figures describe the situation before the 2023 earthquake; current facility and bed numbers are not in these sources. The agency's 2025 activity report records current tourism projects (Antakya Gastronomy Market, Madenli Yacht Harbour, Hatay Surf Centre).

IndicatorValueYearSource
Tourism-licensed accommodation facilities452016[1]
Rooms · beds2,273 · 4,6022016[1]
Rooms · beds in Antakya (subtotal)754 · 1,5222016[1]
Tourism-licensed food-and-beverage facilities · travel agencies10 · 862016[1]
Average annual tourists (entries to licensed facilities)223,3042009–2015[1]
Average nights · average occupancy (DOĞAKA calculation)1.9 · 34.4%2009–2015[1]
Antakya Gastronomy Market: opened · daily visitors · businesses27.09.2024 · about 3,000 · 152024–2025[2]
Hatay Surf Centre (2025 CMDP): completion targetApril 20262025[2]

What does this data mean for an investor?

About 33% of the pre-earthquake capacity (1,522 beds) was in Antakya's centre. The present state of this capacity cannot be read from these sources; without the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's current licensed-facility data no accommodation supply figure can be given. By DOĞAKA's calculation, average occupancy in licensed facilities during 2009–2015 was 34.4% with 1.9 nights on average: pre-earthquake demand used only a small part of existing bed capacity. The agency read this as roughly two thirds of accommodation capacity going unused.

What it means for an investor: for a new hotel or boutique-lodging decision, the first question should not be “are beds missing?” but “where will occupied beds come from?”; low pre-earthquake occupancy shows the demand side (visitor numbers, length of stay) matters more than the structure. As current demand indicators, Hatay Airport passenger data (the air-traffic block on this page), new visitor-drawing sites such as the Gastronomy Market and the museum's reopening timetable should be followed together (interpretation).

Limitation: Accommodation and visitor figures refer to 2016 and 2009–2015; they rest on Hatay Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism data in the DOĞAKA plan and do not reflect the 2023 earthquake. The plan's “occupancy” is a rough ratio of annual tourist numbers to bed capacity, not true room occupancy. The plan's visitor and revenue projections for 2023 should be assumed not to have materialised and are not used as reference. The 2025 items are project statuses from the development agency's activity report; visitor numbers (Gastronomy Market) are the agency's statement.

Pages related to this data

Sources

  1. [1] DOĞAKA, Hatay Provincial Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2018–2023 (pre-earthquake data) (data period: 2009–2016)
  2. [2] DOĞAKA, 2025 Activity Report (data period: 2025)

Figures come from official sources; interpretations are Invest Hatay's own and are not investment advice.

Frequently asked questions about gastronomy investment

The Uzun Çarşı area and city center stand out for their closeness to the historic fabric, while newly built residential areas offer strong everyday customer potential. We determine this together based on your concept.

Related Investment Areas

Tourism & Hospitality InvestmentsAgriculture & Agro-Industry Investments

Let's define your gastronomy investment idea together

Tell us your concept, location and budget, and we'll map out a plan built for you.

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