A story that began in a tent found its direction through vision. Today, the cheese, yogurt and clarified butter produced by Urfarm from the native İvesi sheep breed have reached dining tables across the United States
Some brands are not born from business plans; they begin with a feeling, an instinct. Urfarm’s story did not emerge from a market opportunity but grew out of a childhood memory. For Sinan Kutlu, milk was never merely a raw material. As a young boy in Urfa, milking a handful of sheep inside a small tent, he was not holding onto a profession but to a memory. He remembers carrying home the boxed milk distributed at school with his siblings, watching his mother turn that milk into yogurt, then into pudding. And each time, the quiet happiness appeared on her face when milk entered the house. From that day on, milk became for him not a production input, but the tangible form of maternal joy — a vessel of comfort, care and pleasure.
Over the years, the number of animals increased, the tent gave way to a facility; yet milk remained a “delicate line” that could never be crossed carelessly. Quality, continuity and respect for labor became the backbone of his production philosophy. A solid facility and infrastructure were established, but for a long time, the production remained anonymous — manufacturing for others, contract-based, full of potential yet without a voice of its own.
The turning point came the day Mustafa Acar walked into the facility. A seasoned professional who sourced for major dairy companies, with international connections and a sharp understanding of global markets, Mustafa Acar read the sector not only through numbers but through trends. What he saw that day was more than a production line: It was the right animal, the right milk, the right discipline — and a story whose potential had yet to be fully told. This encounter became far more than a conventional partnership. One partner spoke the language of land, animals and milk; the other understood markets, retail chains and global expectations. They met at the same point: Transforming production, differentiating the market and creating a language capable of telling the story of this geography to the world. Urfarm’s presence today on the shelves of major retail chains and its high-volume exports to the United States are the result of this precise intersection of knowledge — a local instinct finding a global response.
At the heart of this story stands the region’s native sheep breed: The İvesi. All Urfarm products are made exclusively from the milk of this breed — not as a marketing choice, but as a conscious philosophy. The İvesi sheep, native to Mesopotamia, is resilient to hot and arid climates and produces milk rich in fat and protein. Raised in the Ceylanpınar region, İvesi lambs grow through long daily walks and a diet rooted in aromatic wild grasses. These conditions translate directly into the products: A denser structure and a deeper, more layered flavor.
One of Urfarm’s most distinctive products is its Pecorino cheese. Some cheeses are more than dairy products; they encapsulate the climate, livestock and culinary instincts of their geography in a single bite. Pecorino is precisely such a cheese. Traditionally produced for centuries in regions such as Lazio and Sardinia, it is made entirely from sheep’s milk and is often mentioned alongside Parmesan due to its firm texture and long aging process. Yet this resemblance is purely technical. In character, Pecorino is far sharper and more intense, owing to sheep’s milk. Its high fat and protein content allows aromas to develop with greater clarity and depth during maturation. The success of Pecorino made with İvesi milk feels like a gastronomic dialogue between geographies.
The same milk takes on a completely different identity when transformed into sheep’s yogurt. For us, sheep’s yogurt is not merely food; it is the lingering taste of a way of life. Compared to cow’s milk yogurt, it is thicker, fuller-bodied and more tangy. It is deeply rooted in nomadic and semi-nomadic cultures. Milk from native sheep breeds — especially the İvesi — is produced in smaller quantities but is highly concentrated, ferments quickly and resists spoilage. In other words, it represents a technique of preservation, transformation and survival. Traces of sheep’s yogurt remain vivid in Anatolian cuisine, whether in soups or spooned generously over stuffed vegetables.
Another signature Urfarm product is the Ceylanpınar clarified butter, sought after by pastry chefs and professional kitchens alike, especially baklava makers. In gastronomy, we often speak of “simplification.” Sheep’s yogurt and clarified butter remind us that true simplicity does not mean stripping ingredients down, but transforming them correctly. This is where the wisdom of nomadic cuisine resides. Yogurt is not left as yogurt alone; it is turned into fat, made durable and carried into the future. Using traditional methods, Urfarm first transforms sheep’s yogurt into butter, then separates the water and milk solids. What remains is a clear, golden fat, almost glass-like in appearance, prized for its high smoke point.
Today, when you encounter Urfarm’s products, you are not simply tasting dairy. You are tasting the happiness that once filled a mother’s kitchen, the climate of the Urfa plain and a compelling example of how local production can find meaning in the global market. And perhaps this is why Urfarm’s story is more than a brand success; it is a powerful illustration of how agriculture and animal husbandry in Turkey can gain real value. Because sometimes the most meaningful gastronomic stories are not found far away, but hidden in the memory of a single glass of milk from childhood.
