How Yıldız Holding’s gender-equality roadmap boosts women’s leadership and opportunity
Start Reading
1. Company at a Glance
In this case study, we'll explore Yıldız Holding's comprehensive strategy to strengthen gender equality across its global operations. Through leadership commitment, structured initiatives and ecosystem-wide engagement, the company has successfully increased women’s participation and inclusion at all levels.
Food and Retail
Industry
1944
Founded
Türkiye, with operations worldwide
Headquarters
80,000+
Number of Employees
2. The Challenge
Yıldız Holding believes that a sustainable future is only possible through the equal participation of women in the economy. The company recognizes that providing equal opportunity to a diverse employee base is critical to long-term success, as it fosters a more inclusive organization, attracts top talent and improves problem-solving by integrating a wide range of perspectives.
This highlighted the importance of adopting a structured and institutionalized approach to gender equality. To advance these efforts, the company established the Yıldız Holding Women’s Platform in 2021.
3. The Action
Yıldız Holding launched the Women’s Platform as a strategic initiative to mainstream gender equality across all its businesses. Designed to promote women’s economic inclusion and strengthen women’s representation in leadership roles, the platform serves as the cornerstone for all gender-related policies and initiatives within the organization, including:
Development of the "Equal Opportunity and Women’s Empowerment Manifesto"
To provide structure to its gender equality efforts, Yıldız Holding developed the Equal Opportunity and Women’s Empowerment Manifesto, incorporating insights from employees worldwide.
This framework is built on four key pillars:
- Discourse: promoting inclusivity through communication
- Business Environment: ensuring fairness in hiring, promotions and benefits
- Ecosystem: expanding efforts to the broader community
- Value Chain: supporting women in entrepreneurship and throughout supply
chains through initiatives.
Implementation of Gender Equality Policies and Programs
The company identifies internal barriers to gender equality, sets measurable improvement goals and transparently tracks progress. It actively promotes female leadership, setting targets for women’s representation in senior roles and boards. Yıldız Holding also maintains gender-neutral HR policies, taking specific actions to mitigate biases and ensure fair hiring practices, promotions and salaries. For example, in 2024, it became the first holding company in the food and retail sectors to receive the EQUAL-SALARY certification, confirming equal pay for men and women based on a rigorous assessment by the International EQUAL-SALARY Foundation.
Training and Development Programs for Women
Yıldız Holding offers a range of leadership development programs designed to support women’s career progression at all levels of the organization:
- Leadership Foundations – for new managers
- Leadership Mastery: Transformational Leadership Programme – for mid-level managers
- Leadership Excellence – for senior executives
Its subsidiary pladis has developed its own initiative: Leadership Development Programme, created in partnership with the London Business School and tailored for experienced professionals. Participants develop skills in communication, motivation, self-awareness and leadership, while building strong professional networks.
On another hand, C-Level DEI Training Program trains senior leaders on how to integrate equality and non-discrimination into corporate strategy, ensuring leadership accountability for gender equality.
Expanding Gender Equality Across the Value Chain & Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship
Yıldız Holding actively supports women’s empowerment across its value chain through several impactful initiatives. Since 2022, its leading frozen food brand in Türkiye, SuperFresh, has been implementing the “Women Stars of Agriculture” project to support women farmers. The program offers financial support, training, and guaranteed product purchases, while also providing technical guidance from agricultural engineers throughout the farming process. In just one year, the project surpassed its three-year targets, reaching around 1,500 women farmers with training modules on topics such as financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and even artificial intelligence. Notably, the share of women among their farmers has grown from 5% to nearly 30%, inspiring further expansion of the initiative.
In addition, Yıldız Holding promotes women’s entrepreneurship through its participation in the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) (a multi-stakeholder partnership convening six United Nations agencies) and the Gender-Responsive Procurement and Investment (GRPI) Program, prioritizing sourcing from women-led businesses and generating economic opportunities across the supply chain.
This commitment is also reflected in the “Count Me In” project, which connects women’s cooperatives across Türkiye with customers by featuring their locally made products in ŞOK Markeller stores—creating both economic value and greater visibility for women producers.
Leadership and Employee Involvement
Yıldız Holding’s leadership actively drives gender equality initiatives by setting measurable non- discrimination and equality goals and participating in training programs. Employees play a crucial role through mentorship programs, advocacy networks and feedback mechanisms such as the "Shine Together" initiative. This collaborative approach ensures that gender equality policies remain effective and responsive to employee needs.
Public Advocacy for Gender Equality
Yıldız Holding extends its impact through public advocacy, collaborating with UN Women and government institutions to implement gender equality initiatives in its communities. The company also raises awareness through corporate communications and social media, reinforcing its role as a leader in advancing gender equality and inspiring other organizations to adopt similar commitments.
Each team involved in the project adapts its phase-specific processes to embed these principles, ensuring operational integration.
4. Stakeholder Roles
Leadership
Set measurable targets, champion non-discrimination and equality initiatives and undergo specialized training.
Employees
Participate in mentorship programs, provide feedback and advocate for workplace inclusivity.
Suppliers and Partners
Support gender-responsive procurement and investment strategies.
Public Institutions and NGOs
Collaborate on social impact projects, particularly in agriculture and entrepreneurship.
5. Overcoming Barriers
Cultural Change
The company addressed unconscious bias through leadership training and communication strategies.
Implementing global initiatives
Given their large-scale operations across different geographies, adapting policies consistently posed challenges but the company remained committed and firm to embedding participation, equality, and pluralism across all business processes.
Structural barriers in male-dominated industries
Developed policies ensuring fair recruitment, promotions, salary structures and work-life balance.
6. Impacts & Results
Yıldız Holding initiatives to date have provided concrete evidence that diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace are key drivers of long-term success.
Growth in Female Representation (2019-2024):
Female employees increased from 37% to 49%.
Women on boards grew from 14% into 22%.
The female manager ratio increased from 29% to 35%.
Female employees in blue collar roles increased from 36% to 51%.
Higher Hiring and Promotion Rates for Women:
New female hires rose from 46% (2019) to 60% (2024).
Women promoted within the company increased from 27% (2022) to 57% (2023).
Participation in Training and Leadership Programs:
49% of female employees participated in mentoring programs.
34% in leadership development programs.
36% in young talent programs.
7. Key Lessons Learned
Embed Non-Discrimination and Equality into Core Strategy
Sustainable impact requires integrating gender equality into business objectives.
Leadership Engagement Drives Change
Cultural transformation must start at the executive level.
Measure and Communicate Progress
Data-driven insights enhance transparency and accountability
Expand Impact Beyond the Organization:
Gender equality efforts should extend to supply chains and broader communities, and they should receive the support required to make progress.
"We believe that a sustainable future can only be achieved through the active participation of women in society and the economy. At Yıldız Holding, in line with our vision of “investing in people,” we are taking pioneering steps to promote equal opportunity and we are encouraged by the positive outcomes our efforts have generated."
Mehmet Tütüncü, Yıldız Holding Chair of the Board and CEO
8. Company Commitment
Yıldız Holding has been a participant of the UN Global Compact since 2019, including:
Participant of the Target Gender Accelerator
Signatories of the Women's Empowerment Principles
Participant of the SDG Ambition Accelerator
9. Recommended Resources
Recommended UN Global Compact resources available to support your journey:
Download Case Study
Disclaimer: This case example is intended strictly for learning purposes and does not constitute an endorsement of the individual companies by the UN Global Compact.