Tiv Ta'am (, "Quality Taste") is an Israeli supermarket chain, notable for being the country's most prominent purveyor of

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

and other products not complying with the

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

dietary laws of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. Tiv Ta'am is Israel's largest producer and supplier of non-kosher meat,Gaydamak acquires non-kosher supermarket chain
Ynetnews, 10 June 2007 and is also noted for most of its branches staying open during the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the cre ...

and on

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

(except Yom Kippur). Some of its branches are open 24/7. As of 2020, there are over 40 Tiv Ta'am branches throughout Israel. The company is also involved in food processing and formerly in telecommunications.TLV:TTAM
Google Finance, accessed 12 December 2008

History

Tiv Ta'am was founded by Kobi Tribitch and Tzachi Lipka in 1989. The company is today a national chain. In addition to the supermarkets throughout Israel, Tiv Ta'am is also involved in food processing and production, including hot dogs, chicken, fish, seafood, dried fruits, cheeses and wine, and formerly in telecommunication, which included the importing, marketing and distribution of telecommunication switchboards. In 2007 Tiv Ta'am sold its holding in the telecommunication satellite company Satcom Ltd., and in September 2008 it sold its holdings in

Tadiran Telecom Tadiran Telecom (TTL) L.P., is a privately held Israeli Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) company, providing UC&C systems globally. TTL is owned by Afcon Industries, which in turn is controlled by the Shlomo Group (TASE:SHLD), ...

Potential sale

In June 2007 a lot of news was made and uproar among certain segments of the Israeli public,Gaydamak, Tiv Ta'am deal falls through
Ynetnews, 18 June 2007 when

Arcadi Gaydamak Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak (; ; born 8 April 1952 in Moscow, USSR) is a Russian-born French-Israeli businessman, philanthropist, and President of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations of Russia (KEROOR). In the 1990 ...

, Israeli businessman, 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 Mizra () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located between Afula and Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kibbutz Mizra was established during Hanukkah in 1923 by the fi ...

, 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 it was infeasible to turn the supermarket kosher in addition that Kobi Tribitch, refused to knock off $10 million from the purchase price. 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.

Controversy

Controversy was created in 2006 when the Israeli investigative affairs show ''

Kolbotek Kolbotek () is a veteran Israeli consumer affairs and investigative reporting TV show on Channel 2. It premiered in December 1974 on Channel 1 and was then presented by Daniel Pe'er. Since 1979, its editor and producer, Rafi Ginat, has present ...

'' alleged that Tiv Ta'am was selling meat after its

expiration date An expiration date or expiry date is a previously determined date after which something should no longer be used, either by operation of law or by exceeding the anticipated shelf life for perishable goods. Expiration dates are applied to some f ...

. 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.Tiv Taam pours $500,000 into spicing up its image
Haaretz, 11 October 2007 Tiv Ta'am has been criticized by

Haredi Jews Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

for selling non-kosher products such as pork, with many boycotting the chain.

References

External links

Official website
{{TASE companies Retail companies established in 1989 Companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Supermarkets of Israel Israeli brands Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew