Prigat
Encyclopedia
Syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
manufacturer in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
owned by Gat Foods and Israel Beer Breweries
Israel Beer Breweries
Israel Beer Breweries Ltd is a brewery founded in 1992 in Ashkelon, Israel.-Brewery:The brewery is owned by the Central Bottling Company, which also holds the Israeli franchise for Coca-Cola products since 1968....
. Prigat's headquarters are located in two kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
im, Givat Haim (Meuhad) and Givat Haim (Ichud), near Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
. Prigat is Israel's second largest manufacturer in the juice industry, with 280 employees as of 2006.
1940s and 1950s
- Prigat was founded in 1940 when the leaders of the Givat Chaim kibbutz decided to build a factory for canned fruit and vegetable products.
- In 1941, the factory was named "Gat" and quickly began the marketing of the company's first products, which were jams, tomato pureeTomato puréeThe definitions of tomato purée vary from country to country. In the USA, tomato purée is a processed food product, usually consisting of only tomatoes, but can also be found in seasoned form...
and applesauceApplesauceApple sauce or applesauce is a purée made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and a variety of spices . Fruit flavorings or sweeteners such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or sucralose are also commonly added...
. - In 1943, the British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in Palestine ordered 775,000 syrup bottles for 55,000 Land of Israel pounds (the Israeli currency at the time of the order). - Starting from 1947, the company began using mechanical juice extractionJuicerA juicer is a tool for extracting juice from fruits, vegetables, or wheatgrass. This is known as juicing.-Citrus juicer:A citrus juicer is used for squeezing juice from soft-centered, citrus fruits . It has a conical ridged center...
based on the FMC citrus juice extractor, which finished developing the same year. - In 1957, Prigat began marketing sweetcornSweetcornSweet corn is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel...
seeds in tin cans. - In 1958, Golda MeirGolda MeirGolda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, who was a foreign ministerForeign Affairs Minister of IsraelThe Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...
at the time, approved the "Jaffa Champion" company trademark for marketing outside of Israel. - In 1959, the company's peanutPeanutThe peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
factory was established. The peanut factory was later separated from Prigat's juice activities and is not handled by Prigat today.
1960s and 1970s
- In 1962, the company's frozen juice and vegetables department was established.
- In 1972, Gat won the best exporter award for 1971.
- In 1976, a plasticPlasticA plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
factory for the 6ozOunceThe ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
frozen juice and vegetables boxes was established. - In 1977, the "Prigat" trademark was first used referring to the frozen food department of the company.
1980s and 1990s
- In 1982, Prigat's production line for juice in small bags was established.
- In 1987, Prigat's production line for juice in cardboardPaperboardPaperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
s was established. - In 1993, Prigat began marketing in RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. - In 1995, Prigat's production line for squeezed juice was established.
International activity
Prigat primarily markets in Israel; however, it contains products and/or exports to 15 other countries as well: AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Prigat overseas export revenue is estimated at US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
65.5 million as of 2006, 59.5% of their total revenue.
In 2003, Prigat held 37% of the non-carbonated soft drinks market in Romania, according to market research quoted by the company.
Jewish National Fund involvement
Prigat has also been involved with the non-profit Jewish National FundJewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
. As of 2006, Prigat spent a total of ₪3 million NIS
Israeli new sheqel
The Israeli New Shekel is the currency of the State of Israel. The shekel is divided into 100 agorot...
on treeplanting
Treeplanting
Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture, and from the lower cost but slower and less reliable distribution of tree seeds.In silviculture the...
, of which 2 million square metres of orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s were planted in the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
area. Following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
, Prigat sent the company's employees to restore the Birya
Birya
Birya , also Biriya, is an agricultural village adjacent to Safed, Israel, under the jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council in the Upper Galilee....
forest after numerous Katyushas fell in the area.