On 2 October 2025, Levent Karahan, founder of Yasemin Maaltijdservice, was a guest on the Hendriks en Hendriks podcast — the youngest and fastest-growing entrepreneur podcast in the Netherlands. In a candid conversation he talks about Yasemin's rapid growth, the ambition to serve all of Europe, and why real cooking and personal customer contact are at the heart of the success.
From grandma's kitchen to 4,000 meals a week
Yasemin started during the pandemic, when Levent's grandmother needed fresh meals but could no longer cook. What began as a handful of meals for the elderly from the family kitchen grew, in ten months, into a business that now ships around 4,000 meals a week. "We cook the way your grandma or your mother cooked — simply Turkish, and the tastiest," says Levent.
Chilled-fresh, never frozen — and every customer called personally
The meals are traditionally Turkish, with plenty of vegetables, and prepared chilled-fresh: blast-chilled and airtight-packed with a vacuum and nitrogen mix, for a shelf life of about 8 days. No freezing and no unnecessary additives. In 5 minutes a dish is on the table that would otherwise take you an hour and a half at home.
What makes Yasemin special is the personal contact: "Everyone gets a call." After every package, the team calls customers to ask how it tasted. "Where others stop, we keep going."
From the Netherlands and Belgium to all of Europe
Yasemin now delivers throughout the Netherlands, in Belgium and in the Ruhr area in Germany. The next step is scaling up logistics to serve all of Germany. "If we can do that, then we'll take all of Europe," Levent says about the company's ambition — possibly with several kitchens to handle that growth.
Growth without ads — and discovered through AI
Notably, Yasemin hasn't run paid ads for two months and is still growing. Word of mouth is working, and even AI plays a role. "I've already had four customers who came to Yasemin Maaltijdservice via ChatGPT," Levent says. A new product that genuinely helps people gets talked about.
"The doers win, not the thinkers"
Beyond the growth figures, Levent also shares his entrepreneurial philosophy: on quality (a special Turkish rice and stuffed peppers that only a couple of suppliers in the Netherlands carry), on a team that feels like family, and on perseverance. "Who wins? The doers win, not the thinkers." A dietitian now keeps an eye on nutritional values, and demand from B2B and supermarkets is growing — though the focus remains on the consumer for now.
Watch the full conversation
You can watch the full interview with Levent Karahan in the Hendriks en Hendriks podcast (above). Want to taste it yourself? Browse our menu and discover Yasemin's fresh, authentic Turkish cuisine.
