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Archive | 2010 | March | 02

Ben & Jerry’s to open new factory in Beer Tuvia

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March 2, 2010
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Ice-cream giant to invest NIS 8 million in new production facility that will employ dozens of workers, comply with international exporting standards. Sixteen retail stores, kiosks throughout country also slated to open in near future.

Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream company will open a new factory in the Beer Tuvia area in southern Israel, near Kiryat Malachi, in a facility that up until recently served as a soup factory and logistic center for food manufacturer Vita Pri Hagalil.

Some NIS 8 million (appoximately $2 million) will be invested in the new facility, which will employ dozens of workers, and comply with standards set by the global Ben & Jerry’s corporation as well as the European markets and US food authorities.

The company’s previous factory in Yavne was shut down after it did not hold up to the exporting standards set by the ice-cream giant.

The new plant will produce Ben & Jerry’s ice-creams as well as baked frozen items that are marketed in Israel under the brand name “Rosie’s” and include pancakes, blintzes, bagels and more. In addition, the company will open a new retail store in the central city of Modiin.

According to Ben & Jerry’s General-Manger Avi Zinger, another retail store is slated to open next month at the new Cinema City in Rishon Lezion, in addition to the one already operating in Glilot.

The company is currently holding negotiations for opening another store in Jerusalem as well. Ben & Jerry’s annual turnover in Israel is estimated at some NIS 30 million (appox. $8 million).

Along with the expansion of production facilities, Ben & Jerry’s is also planning on expanding to 16 ice-cream parlors and selling kiosks. According to Zinger, “Ice-cream parlors have regained momentum in recent years, and we have also returned to full activity.

“Ben & Jerry’s opened its first store in Israel in 1988 and operated 16 branches at its peak. In 2001 it began to close down its stores dew to losses suffered with the break of the intifada and the era of increased terror attacks,” Zinger said.

Source: Ynetnews

Dialogue through sports: Israeli cricket wins Dubai prize

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March 2, 2010
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The Dubai-based International Cricket Council has awarded the Israel Cricket Association with a prize for a cross-border initiative bringing together Jews and Bedouins in the southern Negev desert.

The winning project was initiated by Stanley Perlman, the Israel Cricket Association’s chairman.

The Association’s director, Naor Gudker, who is also an international umpire, told Ynet that cricket is among the top three sports in Asia and in many Arab states, including Pakistan and Dubai.

“A very high percentage of the managers, players, and coaches in global cricket are Muslims,” he said. “We do not feel that we are met with revulsion in Muslim states, such as Malaysia, where we played in 1997.”

Gudker expressed his excitement over the latest award, which joins a similar prize won by the Israeli association in 2001.

“It’s a huge achievement. It’s a project we promoted that was warmly received across the world,” he said. “This award in general and the project in particular are a good example of how cricket can bridge, bring compromise, and teach us to accept others.”

The next move is to make cricket accessible to Arab Israelis in Israel’s north, he said.

Gudker used the opportunity to criticize authorities for failing to offer cricket the support it deserves.

“Cricket is rather developed in Israel – there are 21 teams, school leagues, and youth leagues…in Beersheba, 2,000 kids are involved in projects related to the sports. Yet nonetheless, the State is unwilling to build a central cricket stadium and upgrade the sports to an international level,” he said.

Source: Ynetnews