Tiv Ta'am ( , "what a good taste") is an Israeli supermarket chain. There are 32 Tiv Ta'am supermarkets throughout Israel, in addition, the company is involved in food processing and production, and telecommunications. The chain is notable for being Israel's largest store selling pork and other non-kosher products, and for most branches being open on Shabbat (Saturday), and holidays (except Yom Kippur). In addition, it is Israel's largest producer and supplier of non-kosher meat.

History

Tiv Ta'am was founded by Kobi Tribitch in 1990 with its first branch being in Rishon LeZion. Today, the supermarket is a national chain. In addition to the supermarkets throughout Israel, Tiv Ta'am is also involed 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. However, in 2007, Tiv Ta'am sold its holding in Satcom Ltd., a telecommunication satellite company and in September 2008, Tiv Ta'am sold its holdings in Tadiran Telecom.

Potential sale

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

A few days later, the deal collapsed, when it became apparent that is was unfeasible to turn the supermarket kosher in addition that Kobi Tribitch and Amit Berger, then and current owners, refused to knock off $10 million from the purchase price. It was unfeasible 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.

Controversy

Controversy was created in 2006 when Israeli investigative affairs show Kolbotek (similar to the United States 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 spend $500,000 in an ad campaign to improve its image.The chain has also been criticized by Ultra-Orthodox Jews for selling non-kosher products such as pork, with many boycotting the chain.

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 Haaretz, 11 October 2007

External links

• Tiv Taam homepage