Asli Yaman is from Istanbul, Turkey. She earned an MBA from Istanbul Bilgi University, where her dissertation analysed the international proliferation of Starbucks. She began her career in coffee 12 years ago as the Trainer and R&D Department Manager at a wholesale roaster and retailer John's Coffee, a pioneer of specialty coffee in the birthplace of Turkish coffee.

She worked with Soyuz Coffee Roasting, as Director of Production, where she managed coffee buying, production and quality control of SCR's specialty coffee line. After five years experience in Kaliningrad, Russia, she is back to Turkey and working on her own project to increase the knowledge in the coffee community. 

In March 2014, she attended the National Brewers Cup Championship in Turkey where she took the first place for the second time in a row. Following the success in Turkey, Asli represented her home country in Rimini, Italy at World Brewers Cup Championship 2014 where she ended up with a 3rd place in the Finals! Asli is also participating on the judging at National Championships.

Yaman founded KiMMA Coffee Roasters together with Hanife Ozyurt in 2016.

Yaman is also allocating a lot of her professional time towards roasting, education and consultation. As an AST, she is running official SCA trainings in Introduction to Coffee, Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting, Brewing and Barista Skills modules  

Yaman is also licensed Q Arabica Grader of Coffee Quality Institute and worked as SCA Turkey Educational Coordinator. She is Board Member of Specialty Coffee Association and a member of Events Advisory Council.

Hanife Ozyurt is Co-Founder of KiMMA Coffee Roasters. She studied Business Administration and worked as a Manager for 15 years in the field of Marketing and PR. 

Ozyurt met with ‘specialty coffee’ during her visits to coffee shops in Europe and USA. 

After tasting and experiencing ‘the different coffees’, she was now aware of her passion into coffee and decided to leave the corporate life. After having specific coffee trainings and working as a volunteer in various coffee events, Ozyurt became a founder partner to one of the well known coffee shops in Istanbul. 

Around 6 years ago, she decided to have a more specialised career and another journey in coffee by founding KiMMA brand. She is SCA Barista Skills AST and training baristas together with different projects within Turkey and globally.