1932 – Sucrose
Even before the establishment of the State of Israel, they had already taken care of calories and the war on white sugar. The popular sucrose sugar substitute has been made in Israel since 1932, and its original yellow mushroom packaging has become an integral part of the Israeli home. The first tablet was invented by the chemist Dr. Tzadok Levy. Since then, for 90 years, the Levy family has run the sucrose plant, and today the fourth generation of the family is also involved. Over the years sucrose has changed and regenerated, but the old mushroom box is still available in every supermarket.
Over the years sucrose has expanded and gone beyond the borders of the country, and today the product can be found in most Eastern European countries and in other points around the globe. Alongside the classic sucrose on the shelf are also her “brothers and sisters,” including stevia and sucrose. The packaging has also become more sophisticated, and Sukhrizit has developed packaging that allows the release of only one tablet at the click of a button on the top of the packaging.
1934 – Cow Chocolate
Chocolate cow was first created in 1934 under the name “Oily”, and from the 1950s it is named after the cow on the cover. In 2002 the cow brand developed and also began to appear on spreads, sweet snacks and bonbonniere. Also, the violation on the packaging underwent a design change and changed its image. Cow chocolate is produced in a variety of types: milk chocolate, bitter, white, and also stuffed with various toppings, such as pretzel chips, nuts, popcorn, strawberry filling, nougat cream and more.
In 2013, a new product line was launched where you can find cow chocolate with other elite company flavors, including tortilla, flavors, instant coffee and bazooka gum. In 2017, “Blondie” chocolate came out, which tastes like white chocolate and caramel. The cow chocolate production line produces about 20,000 tablets per hour. Every year, 50 million packages of cow chocolate are sold.
It is impossible to talk about cow chocolate without mentioning the current context of recall for fear of the presence of salmonella in some of the chocolates. Our assessment: After the affair fades, the cow will return and star not only as a nostalgic icon, but also at the top of the best-selling chocolate brands in Israel.
Cow chocolate in its first version (Photo: PR Strauss)1950 – Flakes (Ben Gurion Rice)
During the difficult austerity period of the 1950s, the then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion turned to Eugen Proper, one of the founders of Osem, and asked him to find a replacement for his beloved rice. Proper decided to use as inspiration the Eastern European pastry “Perfalach”, which was served as a dish at a third meal on Saturday, as well as one of the symbols of Rosh Hashanah, and developed it into a product that was also sold for cooking. This is how the flakes were born – rice grains baked in the shape of rice, which are considered one of Israel’s original culinary contributions to the world.
The first shape of the flakes was a rice shape, and later to this day additional and varied shapes were created such as small balls called “couscous” (not to be confused with the North African couscous made of semolina), rings, stars, shells, hearts and more. In addition the flakes also went into gourmet meals overseas. In Israel, flakes are considered a popular food that children love, but today flakes are also found in restaurants in the United States and are considered healthy food.
Flakes (Photo: Nestle Barn website)1955 – Pastrami India
Pastrami India has become an integral part of school sandwiches and snacks at home. The start of Zoglowek’s “India Sausage” was due to a shortage of raw materials. The establishment of the State of Israel posed many challenges for the small enterprise. Most of the workers were recruited for the war, the factory was cut off from the sources of cattle supply in the neighboring countries, and the family members made great efforts to meet their main task in those days: supplying meat to the IDF.
The shortage of cattle spawned a creative and innovative solution, and turkey meat from family farm coops was used as a substitute for beef. In 1955, the plant began producing turkey sausage, following a process of research and development that was a global breakthrough in the food industry. With the technological development, Zoglowek was able to bring the product to the general public as well, and was a great success. In 1969, the company participated in a food fair in Cologne, Germany, which led to first orders from abroad. To this day, the company retains the original recipe for Indian pastrami, to which other flavors and types have been added, such as “thin thin thin pastrami” and more.
Zoglowek’s India Pastrami (Photo: Zoglowek Studio)1959 – The rising dawn spread
The Rising Dawn Company was founded in 1948, with the establishment of the state, by the Widberg brothers. The company produced various sweets, and in 1959 began producing the popular spread – a selected cream for spreading – from the rising dawn spread. Since then, the formula of the spread has not changed and its packaging has not changed over the years, except for the addition of the required markings and except for special editions of the packaging: Smiles Edition, 74th Independence Day Edition for the State of Israel and more. The Rising Dawn Spread is one of the brands associated with Israeliness thanks to the nostalgic taste reminiscent of childhood tastes, throughout which we used to envy the children who brought a chocolate sandwich to school.
The Rising Dawn Spread (Photo: Dudu Koren)1962 – Cottage
Cottage began to be manufactured in Israel in 1962 by Tnuva. It was first introduced by Israel Stauber, then deputy director of the Tel Aviv Dairy, who left with a delegation to the United States where he tasted the cottage cheese. For three and a half months he researched the product, and finally returned to Israel with an experimental cottage to present to management. Because it is a spoiled taste, but they still decided to give the cheese a chance, and Stauber began working on the production of the product, until he reached the texture and size of the perfect grain that is adapted to the Israeli taste.
In those days the cottage was a unique product that has never been seen before, and today, 60 years later, it is a beloved and leading product on which many generations grow and consume it on a slice of bread, alongside a vegetable salad and omelet, or in a spoon straight from the cup. In 2013, the Tnuva Cottage brand expanded and various flavors were added. Today there are 10 different products under the brand, including a small cottage 5% / 9%, a cottage 5% with green olives, a cottage 5% with garlic dill, and more.
Cottage (Photo: Tnuva PR)1964 – Bamba
In 1964, Osem first launched a cheese-flavored corn snack, but its marketing did not yield significant profits. The name of the snack, Bamba, was determined due to the resemblance to the first words that babies learn to pronounce. Just before the factory closed, Osem decided to coat the Bamba with peanut butter – and the snack was snatched from the shelves. Bamba’s first significant milestone was in 1967, during the Six Day War. Bamba occupied a respectable place on the snack shelves in the military canteens and accompanied the soldiers during the war. This has become a snack that does not only appeal to children.
In 1980 the barn management decided to produce the bamba on the purity of only natural ingredients with the addition of essential vitamins, and in the same year a strawberry-flavored red bamba was also launched. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, Bassem decided to fill the Bamba with nougat cream, inspired by the IDF custom of dipping the Bamba in chocolate.
Over the years many special editions of different shapes have been launched for the classic Bamba like hearts, flowers, pyramids and more. Bamba’s baby character was created in the early 90’s along with the jingle “No, no, nothing like Bamba”, which became identified with the brand. Since then, Bamba has been an icon and an essential part of Israeli culture. Today, the innovative Bamba factory in Kiryat Gat produces more than a million bags of Bamba a day and about 20 million bags a month.
Bamba (Photo: Barn)1968 – Chocolate
Who does not remember the chocolate and bun served at the time in many camps as a meal of ten? In 1957, Kibbutz Yotvata was established in the heart of the Arava. In 1959, Kibbutz Rafat was established, despite the opposition of dairy experts in the country, who claimed that in the climatic conditions of the place, it is not possible to raise cows that produce milk. The huge challenge was to bring Dutch cows from an average temperature of 10 degrees Celsius to 47 degrees, but as Ben-Gurion said: “Dare, persevere, succeed.”
In 1962, with the help of Moshe Hess of Hulda, the Yotvata Dairy was established. In 1968, the dairy produced the chocolate for the first time and began putting it in machines for independent selling to anyone making their way to Eilat. The place with the chocolate, the Yotvata buffet, has become a legend.
A few more years passed and they began to distribute the chocolate to every home in Israel. Over the years, many more “brothers” have been born for chocolate, such as mocha drinks, folded chocolate, tortilla, blondie, marshmallow, spoon fun, caramel, milkshakes and more. In recent years, the “chocolate faucet” has also opened. Anyone who wants, can simply stop at its best and pour himself a glass of chilled chocolate directly from the tap.
Yotvata chocolate (Photo: PR Strauss)1975 – Tortilla
The product, which many of us still remember how they jumped into a checkpoint during military service to sweeten the day with it, was launched by an elite company in 1975. At the time, a milk chocolate market filled with rum-flavored cream under the name “Jamaica” was used. In the coated waffle, the name of the snack is called a tortilla because it resembles a layered cake.
The snack, produced in the Strauss candy division factory in the Galilee landscape, is made of a chocolate-coated waffle with rum-flavored almond cream inside. Over the years, Elite has marketed special editions of the snack such as Turrert – a snack one third of the regular packaging, a tortilla with white chocolate, cow chocolate flavored tortilla, tortilla flavored milk drink, tortilla roll, tortilla flavored ice cream, tortilla flavored milk, and more.
Tortilla (Photo: PR Strauss)1980 – Natural schnitzel
The story of the schnitzel that preceded the meat abstinence trend by decades began in the early 1980s, when Dr. Micha Shemer, a food technologist and member of Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot, developed a soy schnitzel – an innovative solution that did not exist in the world, for the notebook company. For the ultra-Orthodox public as a meat substitute: a fur product, nutritious and rich in protein. The factory began operating in Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot with new technology that improved product quality.
Tevol (Photo: Yachz)In 1993, Tevol first launched the corn schnitzel, and very quickly it became one of the best-selling products in Israel. In 1995, 58% of Tivol was acquired by Osem Investments. In March 2010, the acquisition of the company by Osem was completed. The company, which has been a pioneer in innovative technological developments from the plant, has progressed to developing a rich culinary variety from the plant (among the products: cauliflower / broccoli schnitzel, vegetarian burger, vegetarian meatballs and more), and continues to strive to promote a sustainable diet and “natural” lifestyle. Consumerism and the spirit of the period.