Angel Bakeries
Encyclopedia
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. With a product line of 100 different types of bread products and 250 different types of cakes and cookies, Angel sells its goods in 32 company-owned outlets nationwide and distributes to 6,000 stores and hundreds of hotels and army bases. It also exports to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Denmark.
Founded in 1927 in Jerusalem by Salomon Angel, the company has always been on the cutting edge of innovation and efficiency. It introduced to the Israeli market the first sliced bread
, plant-based emulsifiers
, and new baking technologies. It has always been family-run
, at first by Salomon with his brothers and sons, then by Salomon's grandsons, and today by Salomon's great-grandsons. The company, Salomon A. Angel Ltd., is publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
, with a recorded turnover of $180 million in 2008.
by Salomon (Shlomo) Angel, a seventh-generation Jerusalemite and scion of a Sephardi
family that traced its lineage back to Jews who were expelled from Spain
in 1492. Born in the Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Angel was originally a teacher, but left that field and became a merchant in order to win the approval of his future father-in-law. He married his wife, Esther, in 1916. The couple had three sons, Avraham, Ovadia, and Danny, and three daughters.
Salomon Angel became a successful dry-goods merchant who traveled regularly to Alexandria
, Damascus
, and Beirut
to buy flour and other basic foodstuffs to sell in Jerusalem. In 1926, one of Angel's customers, a large Bayit Vegan bakery owned by two Jewish partners, went bankrupt
. Salomon Angel and his father, Avraham, decided to pay off the bakery's debts and assume ownership. Angel's Bakery opened the next year, in 1927.
Though new to bread-making, Salomon Angel entered the business with his typical enterprising zeal. He introduced Israel's first automated weighing machines, invested in new production lines, and expanded his customer base. He often slept overnight at the bakery during the week and returned to his home in Talpiot
when the bakery was closed on Shabbat
. Later he built an apartment over the bakery to house his family as well.
In the 1930s, the bakery was employing 25 workers and producing 8,500 loaves per week. It delivered bread to stores in two trucks and a horse and wagon
.
Angel's Bakery played a key role in feeding Jerusalem residents during the 1948 War of Independence
. When Arabs lay siege
to the city and attacked convoy
s that attempted to bring food and supplies through the narrow mountain pass from Tel Aviv
, water and flour were at a premium. Fire trucks were employed to shuttle water to the bakery and "flour was swept up off the bakery floor". Salomon's son Danny, who was a Haganah
fighter defending the besieged Old City, recalled that the bakery would send bread in convoys to the fighters in the Old City and Mount Scopus
, and that guns and ammunition were hidden in the sacks of bread. One of the first horses used for the Jewish assault on the Arabs' Old City positions came from Angel's Bakery; its feet were wrapped in old flour sacks so the British wouldn't detect it.
industrial zone at the corner of Beit Hadfus
and Farbstein Streets. The site was chosen because it stood across the street from a flour mill
. In 1965, Salomon's three sons, Avraham, Ovadia and Danny, working as co-CEOs
, built Israel's first flour silo
and commissioned a Texas
company to construct a 750-foot pipeline to convey flour directly from the mill to the silo to the bakery. Today this pipeline brings 120 tons of flour to the bakery daily. The invention, initially opposed by the Jerusalem municipality for being above-ground, won the Kaplan Prize for distinction in productivity and efficiency.
Also in 1965, the brothers introduced new long ovens and kneading machines. That same year, they produced the country's first sliced bread
and bread containing soy flour.
To enter the whole wheat bread
market, the bakery imported its own wheat-cleaning machine from Hungary
; the machine actually had to be smuggled
out since Hungary did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time. However, health-food consumers were wary of the first whole-wheat loaves because they were white, not brown. Working with the Health Food Association, Angel's came up with the solution of adding all-natural molasses
to the bread to give it a brown color.
As a result of its ongoing drive for modernization and efficiency, Angel's developed the only production line in Israel with the capacity to produce 3,300 loaves of bread per hour. Thirteen other bread production lines in its various plants each yield over 2,000 loaves per hour. One production line in Jerusalem has the capacity to turn out 10,000 pita
s in three hours. On each day of the eight-day Hanukkah
festival, the Jerusalem plant also fries up 250,000 sufaniyot
, the jelly-filled doughnut favored by Israelis at this season.
The bakery's digitally controlled ovens continually adjust temperatures to accommodate the fermenting and baking processes; these ovens can also bake different types of bread at different temperatures on the top and bottom of each oven.
Notwithstanding the emphasis on innovation and automation, Angel's challah
s are still braided by hand.
s, bourekas, danishes
, fancy cakes, handmade pastries, coffee and soft drinks. For many years, visitors could watch bakers braid challahs through a large side window. At the end of the Passover
holiday, a long line of customers traditionally forms outside the store after midnight, waiting to buy the first bread off the production line.
Also in 1984, the company began producing pastries and cakes in a factory in Jerusalem, and beginning in the 1990s it began building and acquiring other bakeries in a move to diversify its products and marketing base. It built a new bakery in Lod
in 1995 and purchased the Tuv Tam bakery in Netivot
in 1999. Today the company, known as Angel Bakeries, owns and operates five plants:
The company has branched into the baking of breads with special grains and added dietary fiber
s, reduced-calorie and vitamin-fortified
breads, and certified organic
products.
In 2002, it introduced parbaked
pita, challah, rolls, ciabatta
, "artisan" breads, and pizza
bases, which are flash frozen
and sold to customers or stores that complete the baking process themselves for a fresher product.
In keeping with government regulations, Angel Bakeries also produces several varieties of price-controlled bread for the low-income sector.
In the late 1990s, the company opened a chain of cafe/bakeshops in four Jerusalem shopping districts (including one two blocks away from its plant in Givat Shaul, on Kanfei Nesharim Street). Besides selling the company's bakery-fresh goods, the Angel Cafe serves salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes, desserts, coffees, teas and soft drinks.
Angel Bakeries is an approved supplier to the Domino's Pizza
chain in Israel, and the sole supplier of hamburger buns to McDonald's
restaurants in Israel. It also exports to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Denmark.
In terms of input, the company uses over 5,000 tons of flour per month.
(Angel Bakeries carries the hechsher
of both the Edah HaChareidis and the Orthodox Union
), Salomon Angel's son Ovadia, a trained chemist
, collaborated with others at the Angel's-owned Adumim Chemicals plant to develop a new formula for the emulsifiers
which bind water and oil in the bread-making process. In those early days, emulsifiers were made with animal-based fats which were not kosher. Ovadia Angel and his team developed plant-based emulsifiers which were kosher, and later sold this new knowledge to other companies.
Another kashrut
challenge which the bakery overcame in the early 1950s concerned the ability to produce fresh bread for sale on Sunday mornings after the plant had been closed for Shabbat
in accordance with Jewish law. Normally dough takes four to six hours to rise, but the bakery acquired a mixer made by Tweedy of Burnley, England, which could produce dough in only two hours, thus allowing the bakery to bake bread on Saturday night in time for Sunday-morning deliveries. Today Angel Bakeries owns nine such mixers, five of which are used in its Jerusalem plant.
Angel Bakeries operates year-round except for Shabbat
, Yom Tov
, and Passover
week. In accordance with Jewish law
, it annually sells its stock to a non-Jew before Passover so that it does not own chametz
over the holiday.
, in 1984. However, it remains a family business
. Avraham, the eldest brother, who headed the management division, was succeeded by his daughter Ruthie. Ovadia passed down the directorship of production and technology to his son Gadi. And Danny handed over the company directorship to his son Yaron.
Angel Bakeries employs 1,800 workers, including Israelis, Palestinians
, and new immigrants
. Some of its workers are third-generation employees. In its over 80-year history, the bakery has never had a strike
.
Danny Angel (1920–2009), who worked in the family business from the age of 7 until his death at age 89 was the public face of the company. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Jerusalem Prize, Jerusalem Worthy, and Notable Industrialist. He was president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel
, the Rotary Club of Israel, and the Variety Club of Israel
, which he helped found. He had many friends in the political echelon as well. In recognition of their longtime friendship, Jerusalem mayor
Teddy Kollek
always gave Danny Angel an honorary spot at the bottom of his electoral list
. In 2008, mayoral candidate Nir Barkat continued the tradition and placed Angel's name at the bottom of his electoral list. Angel's funeral was attended by Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert
, Likud
party leader Benjamin Netanyahu
, and other government officials.
. In 1981 he opened his own Angel's Bakery in Brooklyn
, New York, specializing in muffins, cookies and cakes.
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...
, producing 275,000 loaves of bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
and 275,000 rolls
Hot dog bun
A hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands....
daily and controlling 30 percent of the country's bread market. With a product line of 100 different types of bread products and 250 different types of cakes and cookies, Angel sells its goods in 32 company-owned outlets nationwide and distributes to 6,000 stores and hundreds of hotels and army bases. It also exports to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Denmark.
Founded in 1927 in Jerusalem by Salomon Angel, the company has always been on the cutting edge of innovation and efficiency. It introduced to the Israeli market the first sliced bread
Sliced bread
Sliced bread is a loaf of bread which has been pre-sliced and packaged for convenience. It was first sold in 1928, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped." This led to the popular phrase, "the greatest thing since sliced bread".- History :Otto...
, plant-based emulsifiers
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
, and new baking technologies. It has always been family-run
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....
, at first by Salomon with his brothers and sons, then by Salomon's grandsons, and today by Salomon's great-grandsons. The company, Salomon A. Angel Ltd., is publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv is Israel's only stock exchange.The TASE is the only public market for trading securities in Israel. It plays a major role in the Israeli economy....
, with a recorded turnover of $180 million in 2008.
History
The original Angel's Bakery was established in Bayit VeganBayit Vegan
Bayit VeGan is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, Israel, with a mostly charedi religious population. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat Hayovel and Givat Mordechai. The Shaare Zedek Medical Center is located near Bayit VeGan...
by Salomon (Shlomo) Angel, a seventh-generation Jerusalemite and scion of a Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
family that traced its lineage back to Jews who were expelled from Spain
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
in 1492. Born in the Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Angel was originally a teacher, but left that field and became a merchant in order to win the approval of his future father-in-law. He married his wife, Esther, in 1916. The couple had three sons, Avraham, Ovadia, and Danny, and three daughters.
Salomon Angel became a successful dry-goods merchant who traveled regularly to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, and Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
to buy flour and other basic foodstuffs to sell in Jerusalem. In 1926, one of Angel's customers, a large Bayit Vegan bakery owned by two Jewish partners, went bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Salomon Angel and his father, Avraham, decided to pay off the bakery's debts and assume ownership. Angel's Bakery opened the next year, in 1927.
Though new to bread-making, Salomon Angel entered the business with his typical enterprising zeal. He introduced Israel's first automated weighing machines, invested in new production lines, and expanded his customer base. He often slept overnight at the bakery during the week and returned to his home in Talpiot
Talpiot
Talpiot , is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers.-Etymology:The name Talpiot derives from a verse in Song of Songs 4:4 – "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets." According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple...
when the bakery was closed on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. Later he built an apartment over the bakery to house his family as well.
In the 1930s, the bakery was employing 25 workers and producing 8,500 loaves per week. It delivered bread to stores in two trucks and a horse and wagon
Horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load...
.
Angel's Bakery played a key role in feeding Jerusalem residents during the 1948 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...
. When Arabs lay siege
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....
to the city and attacked convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s that attempted to bring food and supplies through the narrow mountain pass from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, water and flour were at a premium. Fire trucks were employed to shuttle water to the bakery and "flour was swept up off the bakery floor". Salomon's son Danny, who was a Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
fighter defending the besieged Old City, recalled that the bakery would send bread in convoys to the fighters in the Old City and Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus , جبل المشهد , جبل الصوانة) is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN protected Jewish exclave within Jordanian-occupied territory until the Six-Day War in 1967...
, and that guns and ammunition were hidden in the sacks of bread. One of the first horses used for the Jewish assault on the Arabs' Old City positions came from Angel's Bakery; its feet were wrapped in old flour sacks so the British wouldn't detect it.
New baking technologies
In 1958 Angel's Bakery moved to its present location in the Givat ShaulGivat 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...
industrial zone at the corner of Beit Hadfus
Beit 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....
and Farbstein Streets. The site was chosen because it stood across the street from 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 1965, Salomon's three sons, Avraham, Ovadia and Danny, working as co-CEOs
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, built Israel's first flour silo
Silo
A silo is a structure for storing bulk materials.Silo may also refer to:* Silo , a 3D modeling software* Silo , a defunct chain of retail electronics stores* SILO , used in Linux...
and commissioned a Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
company to construct a 750-foot pipeline to convey flour directly from the mill to the silo to the bakery. Today this pipeline brings 120 tons of flour to the bakery daily. The invention, initially opposed by the Jerusalem municipality for being above-ground, won the Kaplan Prize for distinction in productivity and efficiency.
Also in 1965, the brothers introduced new long ovens and kneading machines. That same year, they produced the country's first sliced bread
Sliced bread
Sliced bread is a loaf of bread which has been pre-sliced and packaged for convenience. It was first sold in 1928, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped." This led to the popular phrase, "the greatest thing since sliced bread".- History :Otto...
and bread containing soy flour.
To enter the whole wheat bread
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat bread is a type of bread that is made using flour which is partly or entirely made from whole or almost whole wheat grains, see whole wheat flour and whole grain. It is one kind of brown bread. Synonyms or near-synonyms for whole wheat bread elsewhere in the world are whole grain bread...
market, the bakery imported its own wheat-cleaning machine from 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...
; the machine actually had to be smuggled
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
out since Hungary did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time. However, health-food consumers were wary of the first whole-wheat loaves because they were white, not brown. Working with the Health Food Association, Angel's came up with the solution of adding all-natural molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
to the bread to give it a brown color.
As a result of its ongoing drive for modernization and efficiency, Angel's developed the only production line in Israel with the capacity to produce 3,300 loaves of bread per hour. Thirteen other bread production lines in its various plants each yield over 2,000 loaves per hour. One production line in Jerusalem has the capacity to turn out 10,000 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 in three hours. On each day of the eight-day Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
festival, the Jerusalem plant also fries up 250,000 sufaniyot
Sufganiyah
A sufganiyah is a ball-shaped doughnut that is first deep-fried, then pierced and injected with jelly or custard, and then topped with powdered sugar. It is similar to the German Berliner, the Polish pączki, or the Russian ponchik...
, the jelly-filled doughnut favored by Israelis at this season.
The bakery's digitally controlled ovens continually adjust temperatures to accommodate the fermenting and baking processes; these ovens can also bake different types of bread at different temperatures on the top and bottom of each oven.
Notwithstanding the emphasis on innovation and automation, Angel's challah
Challah
Challah also khale ,, berches , barkis , bergis , chałka , vánočka , zopf and kitke , is a special braided bread eaten on...
s are still braided by hand.
Expansion and diversification
Angel's Bakery opened its landmark factory store adjacent to the Givat Shaul plant in 1984. The store offers a full selection of packaged breads, rolls, and muffinMuffin
A muffin is an American English name for a type of quick bread that is baked in small portions. Many forms are somewhat like small cakes or cupcakes in shape, although they usually are not as sweet as cupcakes and generally lack frosting. Savory varieties, such as cornbread muffins, also exist...
s, bourekas, danishes
Danish pastry
Danish pastry is a sweet pastry which has become a specialty of Denmark and neighbouring Scandinavian countries and is popular throughout the industrialized world, although the form it takes can differ significantly from country to country...
, fancy cakes, handmade pastries, coffee and soft drinks. For many years, visitors could watch bakers braid challahs through a large side window. At the end of the Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
holiday, a long line of customers traditionally forms outside the store after midnight, waiting to buy the first bread off the production line.
Also in 1984, the company began producing pastries and cakes in a factory in Jerusalem, and beginning in the 1990s it began building and acquiring other bakeries in a move to diversify its products and marketing base. It built a new bakery in Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
in 1995 and purchased the Tuv Tam bakery in Netivot
Netivot
Netivot is a city in the Southern District of Israel in Israel. At the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 26,700. It was founded in 1956 as a development town along with Sderot to the north, and Ofakim to the south...
in 1999. Today the company, known as Angel Bakeries, owns and operates five plants:
- Jerusalem – serving Jerusalem and its environs
- Kfar HaHoreshKfar HaHoreshKfar HaHoresh is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 423....
(Oranim Bakery) – serving Northern Israel - Lod – serving Central Israel and the Gush DanGush DanThe Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area , or Gush Dan , is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv and the Central Districts of Israel. The area is closely linked to the city of Tel Aviv through social, economic, and cultural ties. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
region - Netivot – serving Southern Israel
- Beit Shemesh – dedicated factory for cakes and pastries distributed nationwide
The company has branched into the baking of breads with special grains and added dietary fiber
Dietary fiber
Dietary fiber, dietary fibre, or sometimes roughage is the indigestible portion of plant foods having two main components:* soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and* insoluble fiber that is metabolically inert, absorbing water as it...
s, reduced-calorie and vitamin-fortified
Food fortification
Food fortification or enrichment is the process of adding micronutrients to food. It can be purely a commercial choice to provide extra nutrients in a food, or sometimes it is a public health policy which aims to reduce numbers of people with dietary deficiencies in a population.Diets that lack...
breads, and certified organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
products.
In 2002, it introduced parbaked
Parbaking
Parbaking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen for storage. The raw dough is baked as if normal, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen...
pita, challah, rolls, ciabatta
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. The loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish. There are many variations of ciabatta.Ciabatta in its modern form was developed in 1982...
, "artisan" breads, and pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
bases, which are flash frozen
Flash freezing
Flash freezing refers to the process in various industries whereby objects are quickly frozen by subjecting them to cryogenic temperatures....
and sold to customers or stores that complete the baking process themselves for a fresher product.
In keeping with government regulations, Angel Bakeries also produces several varieties of price-controlled bread for the low-income sector.
In the late 1990s, the company opened a chain of cafe/bakeshops in four Jerusalem shopping districts (including one two blocks away from its plant in Givat Shaul, on Kanfei Nesharim Street). Besides selling the company's bakery-fresh goods, the Angel Cafe serves salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes, desserts, coffees, teas and soft drinks.
Distribution
Today Angel Bakeries owns a fleet of 200 trucks that transport its products to 32 company-owned outlets, 6,000 stores, and hundreds of hotels and army bases throughout Israel. The distribution schedule is fully computerized and designed to operate on a "just in time" basis: All the bread that needs to be delivered to a specific location is programmed to come off the production line right before it is loaded onto a truck and sent off, guaranteeing maximum freshness.Angel Bakeries is an approved supplier to the Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
chain in Israel, and the sole supplier of hamburger buns to McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
restaurants in Israel. It also exports to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Denmark.
In terms of input, the company uses over 5,000 tons of flour per month.
Compliance with Jewish law
In the interests of keeping the bread kosherKashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
(Angel Bakeries carries the hechsher
Hechsher
A hechsher is the special certification marking found on the packages of products that have been certified as kosher . In Halakha , the dietary laws of kashrut specify food items that may be eaten and others that are prohibited as set out in the commandments of the Torah...
of both the Edah HaChareidis and the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
), Salomon Angel's son Ovadia, a trained chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, collaborated with others at the Angel's-owned Adumim Chemicals plant to develop a new formula for the emulsifiers
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
which bind water and oil in the bread-making process. In those early days, emulsifiers were made with animal-based fats which were not kosher. Ovadia Angel and his team developed plant-based emulsifiers which were kosher, and later sold this new knowledge to other companies.
Another kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
challenge which the bakery overcame in the early 1950s concerned the ability to produce fresh bread for sale on Sunday mornings after the plant had been closed for Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
in accordance with Jewish law. Normally dough takes four to six hours to rise, but the bakery acquired a mixer made by Tweedy of Burnley, England, which could produce dough in only two hours, thus allowing the bakery to bake bread on Saturday night in time for Sunday-morning deliveries. Today Angel Bakeries owns nine such mixers, five of which are used in its Jerusalem plant.
Angel Bakeries operates year-round except for Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, Yom Tov
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
, and Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
week. In accordance with Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, it annually sells its stock to a non-Jew before Passover so that it does not own chametz
Chametz
Chametz, also Chometz, and other spellings transliterated from , are leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover...
over the holiday.
Family business
Angel's Bakery was the first Israeli bakery to go public on the Tel Aviv Stock ExchangeTel Aviv Stock Exchange
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv is Israel's only stock exchange.The TASE is the only public market for trading securities in Israel. It plays a major role in the Israeli economy....
, in 1984. However, it remains a 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....
. Avraham, the eldest brother, who headed the management division, was succeeded by his daughter Ruthie. Ovadia passed down the directorship of production and technology to his son Gadi. And Danny handed over the company directorship to his son Yaron.
Angel Bakeries employs 1,800 workers, including Israelis, Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
, and new immigrants
Aliyah
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...
. Some of its workers are third-generation employees. In its over 80-year history, the bakery has never had a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
.
Retail brands
- Angel Bakeries ( Ma'afiyat Angel) – white, "dark white" and whole-wheat sliced bread, whole-wheat and multi-grain breads, challahs, pita bread, light/sugar-free breads, rolls, buns
- Lechem Eynan – pre-germinated whole-wheat bread
- French-style bread – handmade bread using traditional French baking methods
- Lachmaniyot – bestselling children's bunsHot dog bunA hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands....
with free plastic sandwich bags in each package - Wheat crisps – 19-calorie crackers
Honors and awards
The intersection of Kanfei Nesharim and Farbstein Streets, on the northeastern corner of the bakery, was named Shlomo Angel Square by the Jerusalem munipality in honor of the company's founder.Danny Angel (1920–2009), who worked in the family business from the age of 7 until his death at age 89 was the public face of the company. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Jerusalem Prize, Jerusalem Worthy, and Notable Industrialist. He was president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel
Manufacturers Association of Israel
The Manufacturers Association of Israel is the representative body of all industrial sectors in Israel: private, public, kibbutz and government industries. The association was founded in 1921.-Awards:...
, the Rotary Club of Israel, and the Variety Club of Israel
Variety, the Children's Charity
Variety, the Children's Charity is an organisation founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 10, 1927, when a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On Christmas Eve 1928, a small baby was left on the steps the Sheridan Square...
, which he helped found. He had many friends in the political echelon as well. In recognition of their longtime friendship, Jerusalem mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Teddy Kollek
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
always gave Danny Angel an honorary spot at the bottom of his electoral list
Electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election to a post, usually in proportional election systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party or can constitute a group of independent candidates...
. In 2008, mayoral candidate Nir Barkat continued the tradition and placed Angel's name at the bottom of his electoral list. Angel's funeral was attended by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
, Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
party leader Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, and other government officials.
Angel's Bakery, Brooklyn
Joe Angel, a great-great-grandson of Salomon Angel who, like his cousins, helped out at the family bakery in Jerusalem, moved to the United States in 1969 and earned a degree in bakery management from Kansas State UniversityKansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
. In 1981 he opened his own Angel's Bakery in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, specializing in muffins, cookies and cakes.