Tiv Ta'am

Tiv Ta'am (Hebrew: טִיב טַעַם‎, lit. best taste) is an Israeli supermarket chain, notable for being the country's most prominent purveyor of pork and other products not complying with the kosher dietary laws of Judaism. Tiv Ta'am is Israel's largest producer and supplier of non-kosher meat,[2] and is also noted for most of its branches staying open during the Jewish Sabbath and on Jewish holidays (except Yom Kippur).[2] There are 32 Tiv Ta'am supermarkets throughout Israel, and the company is also involved in food processing and telecommunications.[1]

A special offer on pork chops (50 shekels for 2 kg) in the Beer-Sheva Tiv Ta'am branch.
Tiv Ta'am Holdings 1 Ltd.
Public (TASE: TTAM)
IndustrySupermarket
FoundedIsrael (1990)
Headquarters
Emek Hefer
,
Israel[1]
Key people
Kobi Tribitch (Chairman)[1]
Ido Helft (CEO)[1]
Roy Inbar (CFO)[1]
ProductsFresh produce, chicken, beef, pork, fish and seafood, imported wine with cheese
Websitetivtaam.co.il

History

Tiv Ta'am was founded by Kobi Tribitch and Tzachi Lipka in 1990. The supermarket is today a national chain. In addition to the supermarkets throughout Israel, Tiv Ta'am is also involved in food processing and production, which include meat processing, hot dogs, chicken, fish, seafood, dried fruits, cheeses and wine, and telecommunication, which includes the import, market, and distribution of telecommunication switchboards.[1] However, in 2007, Tiv Ta'am sold its holding in the telecommunication satellite company Satcom Ltd., and in September 2008 Tiv Ta'am sold its holdings in Tadiran Telecom.[1]

Potential sale

In June 2007 a lot of news was made and uproar among certain segments of the Israeli public,[3] when Arcadi Gaydamak, Israeli businessman, made an offer to purchase the company and making a public commitment to turn the supermarket kosher and stop selling pork.[4] He also said that he would make Mizra, the factory which produces pork products for Tiv Ta'am, supply chicken instead of pork.[3]

A few days later, the deal collapsed, when it became apparent that it was infeasible to turn the supermarket kosher in addition that Kobi Tribitch, refused to knock off $10 million from the purchase price.[3] It was infeasible to turn it kosher because Mizra had a contract with Tiv Ta'am that allowed it to sell pork, and some analysts believed Gaydamak realized most of Tiv Ta'am's customers shop there because it is not kosher.[3]

Controversy

Controversy was created in 2006 when the Israeli investigative affairs show Kolbotek (similar to the American program 60 Minutes) alleged that Tiv Ta'am was selling meat after its expiration date. In 2007, Kolbotek showed video of cats roaming one of Tiv Ta'am's storerooms and eating food, prompting Tiv Ta'am to run a $500,000 advertising campaign to improve its image.[5] Tiv Ta'am has been criticized by ultra-Orthodox Jews for selling non-kosher products such as pork, with many boycotting the chain.

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References
  1. TLV:TTAM Google Finance, accessed 12 December 2008
  2. Gaydamak acquires non-kosher supermarket chain Ynetnews, 10 June 2007
  3. Gaydamak, Tiv Ta'am deal falls through Ynetnews, 18 June 2007
  4. Tiv Taam, kosher? Gaydamak says yes The Jerusalem Post, 11 June 2007
  5. Tiv Taam pours $500,000 into spicing up its image Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz, 11 October 2007
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