Istanbul Airport (IST) Needs A Tarihi Balsev Honey Store- Where Walt Disney Meets Willy Wonka.  Passengers Crave Experiences- This Is One.  Please Mr. Samsunlu… 

A few weeks ago, while walking along a narrow street with a friend near Istanbul, Turkiye’s Taksim Square, came into view a beautifully renovated building with displays of honey products in the windows.   

As a self-taught connoisseur of honey, regularly seeking out varieties while on travel- from India to Japan to Ukraine to Peru to Germany to Turkiye to Sweden to China to Australia to South Africa and beyond, as the bear is to honey, this writer is the human is to honey.   

Pleading guilty to continuously hiding and dispersing honey containers among carry-on baggage to evade attention of airport screeners- with an impressive percentage of success.  Until this writing, perhaps….  

The first imagery from entering Tarihi Balsev Honey is seeing a few honeybees surveying the inventory- the jars, the honeycombs, and the fifty-plus feet of displays- including a discrete area at the rear of the store preceded by a lounge area in the front of the store.   

The honeybees were quite purposely engaging in reconnaissance for their Queen to be certain the efforts of their colleagues were caringly and purposely displayed in the store.  The troops had to have been won over. 

To visualize Tarihi Balsev Honey, think if the late Mr. Walt Disney, the visionary for Anaheim, California’s Disneyland which opened in 1955, had invited the cartoon character Winnie The Pooh (created in 1926 by Mr. A.A. Milne and illustrated by Mr. E.H. Shepard; and then adopted by The Walt Disney Company) whose life’s purpose was to enjoy honey, particularly the elusive honey pot, to combine his DNA with that of the fictional Mr. Willy Wonka, created in 1964 by Mr. Roald Dahl for his novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which became a beloved motion picture in 1971.   

Carefully arranged along rows of calming in tone wooden displays is honey candy, honey in jars (glass and plastic), honeycombs (literally arriving daily), and glass containers with spigots from which to pour (drink) honey!  Not a river of chocolate, but nevertheless Mr. Wonka would be proud.  Samples?  Oh yes…. Spoons and cups.  There are some honeys and honey products which have so many vitamins that consumption, even at the retail store, needs be limited. 

There are products for less than US$10.00 and there are products for US$300.00 or more.  Some of the honeys are limited in production (by the bees of course).  And, if in need of a unique gift- or costume, there are beekeeper suits- half and whole, in yellow or white.  Yes, there was one in this writer’s luggage. 

Currently, at Istanbul Airport (IST) there are a few displays of honey in the Duty-Free Shopping Zone.  However, as these images show, the product selection is not robust and most importantly missing is product atmosphere.  There is no performance. See images below: 

The government of Turkiye continues, and appropriately so, to focus upon “Made in Turkiye” as a mantra for increasing exports.  Throughout IST, there are retail stores featuring Turkiye-origin brands, such as clothing company Mavi.  There are also restaurants featuring Turkish cuisine, particularly Turkish coffee (where the experience, the performance, is watching the process- use of the copper cezve- boiling, ladling, pouring, sipping- no sugar, medium-sweet (per Sean Connery’s James Bond’s request to a friend in Istanbul in From Russia with Love), or sweet, and confections- such as the ubiquitous Turkish Delight.  

Retail stores operating within the Duty-Free Shopping Zone at IST do not limit domestic or international travelers from purchasing glass or plastic jars and containers of products, for example spirits, wines, olive oils, olives, and honeys (including honeycombs).  Some products are bagged and then delivered to passengers at the gate. See images below:    

So, while honey products are available within the Duty-Free Shopping Zone at IST, there is no honey product experience.  Travelers crave experiences. 

NOTE TO Mr. Kadri Samsunlu, Chief Executive Officer of IGA (Istanbul Grand Airport) Havalimanı İşletmesi A.Ş., please consider adding a Tarihi Balsev Honey retail store for travelers to enjoy while awaiting their flights at IST…  

Everyone deserves a bit of Winnie The Pooh mixed with Willy Wonka!