Entrepreneurs and people from the food industry who came from Europe to Eretz Israel in the waves of immigration during the British Mandate brought the knowledge, financing, equipment and manufacturing machines that enabled them to develop a modest local food industry. The founders of these and many other food factories built them through hard work and courage, based on faith in their path and whilst overcoming many difficulties. Over time, they have become the backbone of the food industry in Israel.
Strauss
The story of Strauss is intertwined in the story of Eretz Israel. Hilde and Dr. Richard Strauss immigrated to Eretz Israel from Germany in 1937 and started a small cowshed with two cows in their backyard. Hilde was a talented cook and used the leftover milk to create delicious strawberries and cream for her family. This delicacy quickly became very popular and earned the British High Commissioner’s first prize for dairy products. In 1939, the Strauss family decided to sell their small dairy barn and founded the Strauss Dairy factory in Nahariya. The first Strauss logo – an ostrich (“Strauss” in German) was added to the company’s products as sales grew in the 1940’s, when many new towns were established throughout Eretz Israel.
The Strauss family, including eldest son Michael, started out by selling fresh dairy products door-to-door each morning and evolved into one of the pillars of Jewish industry in Eretz Israel prior to the establishment of the State in 1948. The product line at that time consisted of processed cheese, some salty cheeses, leben (cultured milk), lebeniya (thick cultured milk), sour cream, butter and white cheese. Generations of consumers have grown up enjoying Strauss products ever since.
Elite
The story of Elite begins in the 1920’s in Riga, the capital of Latvia. Seven partners founded a successful chocolate factory called Laima (“luck” in Latvian). In 1933, one of the partners, Eliyahu Fromchenko decided to immigrate to Eretz Israel, bringing chocolate manufacturing machines with him. The following year, he and a number of partners established the first Elite chocolate and confectionary factory in Ramat Gan.
The factory manufactured chocolate, cocoa and various kinds of candy. The company was immediately successful. The most popular product was the shamnunit chocolate bar, which evolved into today’s beloved “cow chocolate”. During WWII, Elite manufactured chocolate for the British army and the Allied forces, leading to immense growth and an increased workforce.
Elite quickly became the most popular chocolate and snack brand in the young Israeli state, and remains so to this day.
Osem (Osem-Nestlé)
The seven founders of the Osem food company decided to join forces and merge three existing noodle factories in Eretz Israel (Itrit, HaDagan and Assisit). They called the new company Osem, stemming from the High Priest’s Yom Kippur prayer: This year shall be the year of osem (granary)”.
The story of Osem is interwoven with the story of the State of Israel. During the War of Independence in 1948, trucks filled with Osem noodles joined the convoys bringing supplies to besieged Jerusalem, one of which was even attacked and burned on the way. A long line of people anxiously awaited the trucks that did make it through.
During the period of austerity (tzena) in the 1950’s, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion asked Eugen Propper, one of the founders of Elite, to find an alternative to rice, a popular staple among Jews from Middle Eastern countries. Thus, ptitim, rice-shaped grains of wheat, were born. Soup almonds, one of Israel’s most popular inventions, were developed during that time as well.
Osem also played a role in creating new words in the Hebrew language. In the 1960’s, the company began manufacturing the peanut-flavored snack Bamba, but there was no word at the time to describe a snack. Osem suggested the word hatif (from the Hebrew root meaning “to grab”,) which was accepted by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, and became an official Hebrew word.
In 1995, Osem became a strategic global partner with the largest food company in the world – Nestlé, opening doors to broad business opportunities and setting international standards for quality and excellence.
