Efficiency measurement with financial data: An application on food and beverage companies from Turkey's largest 500 industrial companies

In this study, it is aimed to determine the activities of 45 companies operating in the food and beverage sector, which are on the list of Turkey's 500 largest companies (ISO 500) in the 2016-2020 period by using CCR and BCC models within the scope of data envelopment analysis. DEA Solver (Data Envelopment Analysis Solver) software, which is one of the special software of data envelopment analysis, was used to solve the models used in the measurement of activities, and the average efficiency percentage was calculated for each year. The data used in the analysis were obtained from many different channels, including ISO 500 magazines and the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the efficiency averages of the food companies in the list of Turkey's 500 largest companies (ISO 500) in the 2016-2020 period are 64% according to the CCR model and 76% according to the BCC model. Based on the year 2020, it has been determined that 9 out of 45 food companies are effective according to the CCR model and 22 according to the BCC model. When the efficiency levels of the companies are examined by considering the CCR model of 2020, reference clusters are calculated for 36 inefficient companies to be effective and the potential improvements that these companies should make in order to ensure efficiency are separately indicated. Key Words: Data Envelopment Analysis, Efficiency, ISO 500, Food and Beverage Industry.