Elite Chocolate Factory
“ We toured the plants of Elite the chocolate company & were given free samples.”
August 28, 1957 - Night
David's Comments
The story of "Elite"
Starting from simple milk chocolate, today
Elite features a wide variety of products.
Visiting the Elite Factory in Ramat Gan
My dad visited the Elite Chocolate factory which was in Ramat Gan a suburb of Tel Aviv. He was given a free sample of the different chocolates.
Elite opens second factory in Upper Nazareth
Elite had been rapidly expanding and by 1956 had built a second plant in Upper Nazareth, which changed its name to Nof HaGalil in 2019. I remember the Elite factory closing in Ramat Gan as the land became more valuable and the company moved production to Galil where the land was cheaper. The Elite factory in Upper Nazareth is still opened and has a visitor’s center.
The story of Elite
Elite, Israel’s biggest chocolate brand was started in Latvia. The company was called Laima. By the 1930’s Laima was exporting its sweets to France, The UK and Egypt, among others, But in 1933, with the Nazis rise to power one of the companies three partners, Eliahau Promchenko moved to Israel with his family. He brought with him machines, and more importantly experts in sweets .
In 1934 they opened a factory in Ramat Gan. During World War II Elite won a contract to supply chocolate to the British Army and allied forces stationed in the area.
In 1958, Elite started making instant coffee, called in Hebrew “Kafe Names” It’s still one of the most popular coffee brands in Israel.
In the 1970’s Elite merged with Liber another sweet factory, which meant Elite was now selling delicious crumbly Mekupelet chocolate bars. The iconic Isareli Gum brand Alma, and it was now the licensed seller for Bazooka Bubble gum.
In 1997, Elite was purchased by Strauss, which is currently Israel’s largest food company and it’s still making Israel’s most beloved chocolate like the hazelnut filled egozi, The creamy Peseq Zman, the crunchy KIf Kef and much more. It also makes chocolate bars with no sugar added which diabetics and others can have in small quantity.
Closing of Ramat Gan Elite Factory & Land Sale to Trump & Partners
As I was researching the history of Elite, I wanted to find out what happened to the land where the Ramat Gan factory was. I found that the land was sold in 2006 and demolished in 2008.
I was curious as to who purchased it. It turns out that it was a group led by Donald Trump who purchased the land for $44 million. The Trump group had plans to develop a 70-story luxury apartments tower building that would carry Trump’s name on the land. The building was never developed and buyers sold the land 18 months later for approximately $80 million.
Buildings have still not been developed on the land to this day.
1957 vs today
In 1957, Ixxxxx
Today, Txxxxxxxx
LINKS:
History of Elite Chocolate Factory (video): https://youtu.be/lnhPnb8SH2k
Chocolate in Modern Israel: http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/en/Pages/Chocolate.aspx
Trump Group Buys and Sells Elite Factory Land in Ramat Gan: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-trump-didnt-build-it-65-storey-ramat-gan-tower-planned-1001189541
History of the Elite-Strauss Company: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/53/Strauss-Elite-Group.html