Nostalgia Sunday – Sugar and… rice?
Filed under: Business, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Nostalgia Sunday
I came across Israel Superbrands 2009 while book shopping the other day and stopped short in my tracks. The book, large and glossy, is an annual compendium of the country’s most recognized brand names, from international ones like Toshiba and Lancome, to local favorites like Milky cup o’ chocolate pudding n’ whipped cream and national lottery Mifal HaPayis.
I was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been) to learn that Shimon Peres is a top brand name in Israel. Another non-shocker: there were many different brands of milk products, manufactured by only two companies, thus perpetuating the illusion that there is competition in Israel’s dairy sector.
But perhaps most surprising of all was to learn that Sugat, the Kiryat-Gat based factory whose name is a combination of the “Gat” region and “sugar”, its traditional product since the early days of Statehood, has over the decades cleverly repositioned itself as a purveyor of rice and beans.
How’s that again? And why did this happen? This was the company that in 1967 opened the most advanced sugar manufacturing plant in the Middle East. But times – and water policies – change.
As the Sugat website wordily explains it, “At the beginning of the eighties, changes occurred which compelled the founders of Sugat to alter the Company’s policy. Subsidies to European sugar producers led to a steady fall in the price of sugar in the world market, reaching a level much lower than the cost of refining and production of sugar in Israel. The problems of water in Israel were such to render the production of sugar beet no longer feasible as the quantities of water required for its growth were relatively large. At this stage a decision was taken to close the sugar-producing factory and instead become a company packaging and marketing sugar.”
Having redefined itself as a packager and marketer, Sugat decided to enter into commodities, starting with rice, a staple product of the Israeli diet. Superbrands writes, “In 1990, when the company decided to brand rice and turn Sugat into a brand, the three advertising agencies refused the account, claiming that the move didn’t stand a chance.”
How wrong they were. Today, Sugat sells packages of everything — from 10-minute prepackaged brown rice and lentil mix to quinoa of every stripe and color. Their logo is all over the supermarket shelves. According to Superbrands, the brand is so ingrained in the Israeli psyche that, “Research showed consumers were convinced that their cupboards at home contain Sugat salt (which, by the way, does not exist).”
They still keep a hand in the sugar biz though — and their website has a nice little article about the history of sugar in the Holy Land.
Foto Friday – Yoram Reshef’s pride of researchers
Filed under: Art, Business, Environment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Medical Breakthroughs, Profiles, Technology
Yoram Reshef heads a commercial photography studio that produces images for some of Israel’s leading brands. “I love taking pictures in factories,” he says. “The encounter with machinery, the steel, the noise is exciting to me. I’m very proud of Israeli industry which creates and produces a world of its own, just as I, as a photographer, produce photos and images for my clients.” Reshef also takes pride in the work he does for institutions such as Tel Aviv University (TAU), producing portraits of scientists and academics working on technology’s cutting edge.
For example, marine biologist Prof. Yehuda “Hudi” Benayahu, a world-renowned expert in the taxonomy, ecology and biology of soft corals. Benayahu has warned that coral extinction could mean a global environmental catastrophe.
Or archeologist Yifat Thareani-Sussely, whose doctoral dissertation focuses on the pottery of the 7-8th centuries BCE. Don’t be fooled by the antiquities around her: TAU’s Department of Archaeology includes a Laboratory for Comparative Microarchaeology, an Archaeobotany Lab, Pottery Restoration Lab and other high-tech methods used for exploring the ancient world.
Biochemist Prof. Gali Prag researches proteins, specifically ubiquitin, a dynamic regulatory signal that can affect protein activity. A former researcher at NIH, he was recruited to head his own lab and the university has high hopes for his future research.
Adv. Liat Golan is the professional director of the Alfred Akirov Institute for Business and Environment. An environmental lawyer by trade, she trains the next-generation of business leaders to meet the threats and opportunities created by rapidly changing environments, both natural and corporate.
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Tel Aviv University alumnus Chemi Peres, managing general partner and co-founder of venture capital firm, Pitango Venture Capital, continues to be involved by serving on the Board of Directors of Ramot, the commercial arm of the university that focuses on technology transfer with some very nice success stories to its credit.
By the way, Peres also chairs the advisory board of TAU’s Faculty of Management — as well as serving on the boards of the Weizmann Institute of Science and the IDC- Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. More about those fine institutions another day.
Home for the weekend
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life
While I’m away galavanting in the sub-Arctic temperatures of New England with my sons, my wife has been holding down the fort back at home.
With Hannuka being such a family oriented time, it’s not easy to be on your own, but she’s been keeping busy, with invites to friends around town for the traditional latkes and condiments.
However, today, both of our daughters are coming home for Shabbat – one from Ramat Gan and the other fresh from her first two weeks in the army. Sarit’s had an eventful time, learning the ins and outs of army life, receiving her weapon and spending three days out in the “shetach” (field) learning how to use it.
For a soldier, coming home for Shabbat is the be all and end all – what they think about all week and what keeps them going. My wife is making all of Sarit’s favorites – roast chicken, chicken soup with matza balls and sweet challah.
More so, than most Shabbatot, this one will be a time for the ladies in the family to bond, laugh and spend time together, taking a respite from the tumult of their daily lives. And that’s what it’s all about, right?
Shabbat shalom to you in absentia.
Hanukah in Mahane Yehuda and India
The Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI) has for many years sponsored inexpensive tours of Jerusalem during most holidays. The outings range from standards like the Old City to more exotic trips such as exploring the old 1967 borders.
For Chanukah, the group added a new tour: a shopping journey through the Mahane Yehuda market in central Jerusalem. Led by Jerusalem Post food writer Sybil Kaplan, a rag-tag group of about 20 English-speakers pushed and squeezed its way through the crowds as Kaplan pointed out her favorite establishments.
There was the renowned Bashir cheese shop – excellent selection but not as cheap as the guy four stands down, she said; a fruit and vegetable storefront in the Iraqi part of the shuk with a paltry choice but which Kaplan insisted had the lowest prices; and even a tiny hole in the wall selling baby clothes at a steal.
Mahane Yehuda has come a long way since it was just a small market saving nearby residents a schlep into the Old City for their daily shopping. These days, (nearly) all of the streets are paved with cobblestone brick, there are public restrooms, and a sprinkling of upscale restaurants pop up in-between the artichokes and avocado – from Italian and Kurdish to falafel, schwarma and even a controversial Aroma Café (an unwanted “foreign import,” old time market vendors say).
Perhaps the best of the Mahane Yehuda dining experience can be found at Ichakanda, a vegetarian Indian place on the edge of the Iraqi shuk, serving just thalis – a platter of rice with vegetables and curry dips – along with a potato-stuffed samosas.
Ichakanda only has a few tables and there’s often a line out the door. We ordered the “deluxe” Thali which, at only NIS 56 (about $15) was enough for two. For dessert we had fried cheese balls dipped in maple syrup – sounds disgusting but it was really quite good.
On our way out, we stopped to buy sufganiot – after all, it was Chanukah. At NIS 4 (less than $1.00) for a vanilla and chocolate frosted donut, it was one of the best deals in the town (and while the bakery, Ugat Chen, only ranked eighth in the Jerusalem Post’s annual sufgania countdown, it was still mighty tasty).
One trick when you’re heading to Mahane Yehuda, whether on a tour or to buy supplies at a discount: take the bus. We were foolish enough to arrive by car and sat in horrible traffic heading towards Agrippas Street. Our lunch companions chose to walk from our southern Jerusalem neighborhood and actually arrived before us.
Sivivon, dance to the beat
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Music, Pop Culture
Infected Mushroom
Yes, it may not have been around in Maccabean times, but modern day Israel is a hotbed of innovative electronic music. So, why not mix the levivot and the sufganiyot with a little psy trance, the form of dance music that Israeli artists have become identified with around the world?
Thursday night, the immense parking lot near the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, is going to witness a Hannukah blow out, featuring probably the most successful Israeli musical artists the country has ever produced – Infected Mushroom.
Celebrated DJs who perennially make the top DJ list in international magazines every year, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani (Duvdev) formed their electronic music project more than a decade ago near Haifa, after having been exposed to the trance music coming out of the Goa region of India.
Their music has evolved into a full-fledged rock-tinged extravaganza, and their latest CD, titled The Legend of the Black Shawarma (honoring the group’s favorite restaurant – Shawarma Hazan in Haifa), features guests spots by Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction and Korn’s lead singer Jonathan Davis.
While the band relocated to Los Angeles a few years ago for career advancement, Duvdev told me that they wait with anticipation to return to Israel to perform for a hometown crowd.
“It’s definitely different coming back to Israel to perform. It’s like a homecoming, but the expectations are so high when we come back, there’s more pressure on us to have a great show in Israel than in other places,” he said.
Also performing on the electronic dance fest will be Astrix, an Israeli DJ originally born in Russia and the Matbucha Project which combines Middle Eastern music with electronica.
Certainly, it won’t be a traditional Hannukah event, but one that will likely make the capital a bit brighter on this Festival of Lights.
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