“Becoming Chartered has helped me stand out on a global stage”

An appreciation for the importance of people was what initially drove Büşra Bekar Toprak CMgr FCMI towards a career in food safety.

“Public health is the most important thing for me in my career,” says Büşra, who is head of quality at ANKOL (Antalya Alkollü İçecekler), a Turkish beverage manufacturer and a subsidiary of Türk Tuborg, which is majority-owned by Netherlands-based International Food and Beverage BV. 

“Our products go to children, older people and families. We cannot choose the short road.” 

Büşra initially studied food engineering in Türkiye. While studying, in 2015, she spent six months in London. It was there that she initially learned of CMI, which several of her friends had joined. 

“I couldn’t speak English at the time, so I couldn’t join, but it was my dream to join CMI one day,” she says. 

Career growth

After spending those six months in the UK, Büşra moved back to Türkiye to start her career as a quality engineer. 

“I started by building a strong technical foundation in production and food-safety processes, over time moving into leadership roles, managing operations across multiple sites and working closely with cross-functional teams,” she says. 

“Looking back, there have been several key moments that shaped where I am today. One of the most important was managing a critical food-safety risk that could have affected hundreds of tonnes of products.” 

This brought huge pressure, says Büşra, but it helped her develop her technical skills and leadership abilities, she says.

Throughout this situation, she was able to protect public health and the product – and maintain operational continuity.