Berman's Bakery
Encyclopedia
Berman's Bakery is the oldest commercial bakery
in Israel
and the second-largest after Angel Bakeries
. Founded in 1875 by Kreshe Berman as a cottage industry in Jerusalem's Old City, the family business
was the first to open a Jewish store outside the Old City walls and first to build a flour mill
in Israel.
Berman's Bakery moved to the Mea Shearim
neighborhood of Jerusalem in the late nineteenth century, where it operated as the country's largest through two world wars and the Israeli War of Independence
. In 1965 it moved to its present location in the Givat Shaul
neighborhood. Here it employs over 400 workers and services 2,000 stores, supermarkets and institutions countrywide.
In 2007 the company was purchased by the Mishkei Harei Yehuda agricultural cooperative. At that time it reported revenues of ₪300 million annually.
to the Old City of Jerusalem from Lithuania
in 1876. While Todrus, a full-time Torah
scholar, studied in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva
adjacent to the Hurva Synagogue
, Kreshne supported the family (two girls, Rachel and Rivka, were born in Jerusalem) by operating a small grocery store on the Street of the Jews.
When their savings ran out, Kreshne began looking for ways to increase business. She began baking honey cakes and peddling them to the thousands of Christian pilgrims
who came to Jerusalem annually before Christmas
and remained there until after Easter
. Often she stood at Jaffa Gate or at Lions' Gate, peddling to pilgrims on their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
. Once a pilgrim asked her if she sold Russian black bread. Kreshe experimented with different formulas until she developed her own dark bread by adding carob paste to locally made grain. Her sales of honey cake and black bread grew so much that her son Yehoshua left yeshiva to help her manage the business.
. Austrian army
surplus
wagons transported the bakery goods by horse and mule from the Old City to the store. As these wagons were emblazoned with an anchor
, the insignia of an Austrian army unit, people began associating the insignia with the Berman bakery. Berman's eventually incorporated this anchor into the bakery's logo
.
Yehoshua Berman also built the city's first flour mill in 1886, north of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, which operated until the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
turned that area into a no man's land
. Two huge millstone
s still stand at the former site, which is at the end of the two rows of artisan's galleries on the Street of the Craftsmen.
From 1917 to 1948, the British Mandate government was a regular customer of Berman's Bakery. During the 1948 war, the bakery, which lay close to the Jordanian border, was a frequent target of bombing attempts. Despite the Arab siege of Jerusalem
and severe flour and gasoline rationing, Berman's Bakery continued to supply Jerusalem residents with fresh bread throughout the war.
in the Givat Shaul industrial zone, down the street from the Angel's Bakery which had opened there in 1958. A new road had to be paved to reach the new bakery. The nearly 10,000-square-meter factory is fully automated, producing nearly 3,000 loaves of bread per hour and requiring no human input from production through baking through slicing and packaging.
Also in 1965, Yitzchak Berman, a great-grandson of Kreshe, began working in the bakery following his stint in the IDF
paratrooper
s unit. After working in every capacity in the bakery, he became managing director of the company. He appointed his childhood friend, Yehuda Schneidman, as operating manager. Yitzchak's daughters, Teda and Avital, and his son-in-law Gabi Mazurzski, also work in the family business.
In 1999 the company opened a retail bread shop and pâtisserie
at its factory location. This store displays full lines of packaged and unpackaged breads, rolls, pita
s, cakes and pies, plus a large refrigerated selection of pastries, and sale of hot and cold drinks. Aproned pastry makers can be seen at work through plastic windows at the back of the shop.
, producer of breads, rolls and crumb coatings. With these acquisitions, Berman's became the second-largest bakery in the country.
Yitzchak Berman sold all his holdings to agricultural cooperative Mishkei Harei Yehuda for ₪350 million.
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the second-largest after Angel Bakeries
Angel Bakeries
Angel Bakeries , also known as Angel's Bakery, is the largest commercial bakery in Israel, producing 275,000 loaves of bread and 275,000 rolls daily and controlling 30 percent of the country's bread market...
. Founded in 1875 by Kreshe Berman as a cottage industry in Jerusalem's Old City, the family business
Family business
A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
was the first to open a Jewish store outside the Old City walls and first to build a flour mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
in Israel.
Berman's Bakery moved to the Mea Shearim
Mea Shearim
Mea Shearim is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Israel. It is populated mainly by Haredi Jews and was built by the original settlers of the Yishuv haYashan.-Name:...
neighborhood of Jerusalem in the late nineteenth century, where it operated as the country's largest through two world wars and the Israeli War of Independence
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. In 1965 it moved to its present location in the Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way...
neighborhood. Here it employs over 400 workers and services 2,000 stores, supermarkets and institutions countrywide.
In 2007 the company was purchased by the Mishkei Harei Yehuda agricultural cooperative. At that time it reported revenues of ₪300 million annually.
History
Berman's Bakery began as a cottage industry established by Kreshe Berman (1829–1933), who, together with her husband Todrus HaLevi Berman (1807–1887) and two small sons, Yehoshua (Joshua) (1861–1939) and Eliyahu (1867–1951), immigratedAliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to the Old City of Jerusalem from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in 1876. While Todrus, a full-time Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
scholar, studied in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva
Etz Chaim Yeshiva
Etz Chaim Yeshiva is an orthodox yeshiva located on Jaffa Road close to the Mahane Yehuda Market in downtown Jerusalem.-History:Etz Chaim Yeshiva was originally a Talmud Torah which was established in 1841 by the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Shmuel Salant. For the first two years classes were held in...
adjacent to the Hurva Synagogue
Hurva Synagogue
The Hurva Synagogue, , also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid , is a historic synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem....
, Kreshne supported the family (two girls, Rachel and Rivka, were born in Jerusalem) by operating a small grocery store on the Street of the Jews.
When their savings ran out, Kreshne began looking for ways to increase business. She began baking honey cakes and peddling them to the thousands of Christian pilgrims
Christian pilgrimage
Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, the mother of...
who came to Jerusalem annually before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and remained there until after Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
. Often she stood at Jaffa Gate or at Lions' Gate, peddling to pilgrims on their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
. Once a pilgrim asked her if she sold Russian black bread. Kreshe experimented with different formulas until she developed her own dark bread by adding carob paste to locally made grain. Her sales of honey cake and black bread grew so much that her son Yehoshua left yeshiva to help her manage the business.
Jaffa Road store
During the pilgrimage off-season, Yehoshua went door-to-door selling his mother's bread to local residents. The business continued to prosper and in 1882 Yehoshua opened the first Jewish store outside the Old City walls, on Jaffa RoadJaffa Road
Jaffa Road is one of the longest and oldest streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses and restaurants...
. Austrian army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
surplus
Military surplus
Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Military surplus rarely includes weapons or munitions, though they are occasionally found in such stores...
wagons transported the bakery goods by horse and mule from the Old City to the store. As these wagons were emblazoned with an anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
, the insignia of an Austrian army unit, people began associating the insignia with the Berman bakery. Berman's eventually incorporated this anchor into the bakery's logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
.
Yehoshua Berman also built the city's first flour mill in 1886, north of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, which operated until the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
turned that area into a no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
. Two huge millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s still stand at the former site, which is at the end of the two rows of artisan's galleries on the Street of the Craftsmen.
Move to Mea Shearim
As Jewish settlement expanded beyond the Old City walls in the late nineteenth century, the Berman family relocated to the new Mea Shearim neighborhood, where they built a bakery adjoining their house. Yehoshua encouraged his brother Eliyahu to join the business, and they officially named it J. and E. Berman Ltd.From 1917 to 1948, the British Mandate government was a regular customer of Berman's Bakery. During the 1948 war, the bakery, which lay close to the Jordanian border, was a frequent target of bombing attempts. Despite the Arab siege of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1948)
The Battle for Jerusalem occurred from 30 November 1947 to 11 June 1948 when Jewish and Arab population of Mandatory Palestine and later Israeli and Jordanian armies fought for the control of the city....
and severe flour and gasoline rationing, Berman's Bakery continued to supply Jerusalem residents with fresh bread throughout the war.
Move to Givat Shaul
In 1965 Berman's Bakery moved to its present location on Beit Hadfus StreetBeit Hadfus Street
Beit Hadfus Street , also spelled Beit Hadefus, is an east-west street in the Givat Shaul industrial zone in western Jerusalem.-Name:Beit Hadfus Street was constructed in the 1960s and named for the printing houses that established themselves there....
in the Givat Shaul industrial zone, down the street from the Angel's Bakery which had opened there in 1958. A new road had to be paved to reach the new bakery. The nearly 10,000-square-meter factory is fully automated, producing nearly 3,000 loaves of bread per hour and requiring no human input from production through baking through slicing and packaging.
Also in 1965, Yitzchak Berman, a great-grandson of Kreshe, began working in the bakery following his stint in the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
s unit. After working in every capacity in the bakery, he became managing director of the company. He appointed his childhood friend, Yehuda Schneidman, as operating manager. Yitzchak's daughters, Teda and Avital, and his son-in-law Gabi Mazurzski, also work in the family business.
In 1999 the company opened a retail bread shop and pâtisserie
Pâtisserie
A pâtisserie is the type of French or Belgian bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets. In both countries it is a legally controlled title that may only be used by bakeries that employ a licensed maître pâtissier ....
at its factory location. This store displays full lines of packaged and unpackaged breads, rolls, pita
Pita
Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
s, cakes and pies, plus a large refrigerated selection of pastries, and sale of hot and cold drinks. Aproned pastry makers can be seen at work through plastic windows at the back of the shop.
Acquisitions
In 2001 Berman's Bakery purchased Lechem HaAretz Bakery, producer of specialty and health-food breads, and Vadash Bakery of Ramat HaSharonRamat Hasharon
Ramat HaSharon is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south and Herzliya and Kibbutz Glil Yam to the north. It is part of the Tel Aviv District, within Gush Dan metropolitan area...
, producer of breads, rolls and crumb coatings. With these acquisitions, Berman's became the second-largest bakery in the country.
Sale
In 2007 CEO and controlling shareholderShareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
Yitzchak Berman sold all his holdings to agricultural cooperative Mishkei Harei Yehuda for ₪350 million.
Product line
- Light breads
- Wholemeal breads
- Challahs
- Cakes
- Rolls
- Packaged rolls and pitaPitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
s