Review: ZahavaFoods.com
In the past few years, there have several attempts, on many levels, to promote the purchase of products from Israel while the country suffers from a generally depressed economy. Those initiatives taken through the Internet have been lackluster at best. FineFoodsIsrael.com, a project of Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (and others), shows promise but ultimately falls short, with scant information about U.S. retailers and limited search capabilities. ShopInIsrael.com, a volunteer venture, has a very large compilation of retailers and producers of Israeli products, but it’s not so well organized and has a very rudimentary visual design.
As for online retailers, there have been a handful of sites offering a limited selection of Israeli foods. A. Zara carries commonplace products like Bisli, Bamba, Elite chocolate, and dehydrated soups. Sites like IsraelDirect and Israeli Wishes also carry some nicer items like spices and honeys. But IsraelDirect only has gift packs, and a very unprofessional interface that does not inspire e-commerce confidence. At Israeli Wishes, detailed product information is very limited and it lacks any sort of personal touch.
The latest addition to the Shop Israel community, and the subject of this review, is Zahava Foods, based in West Orange, New Jersey. Store owner Gayle Schindler is committed to providing the personal touch missing elsewhere: “We want to introduce our customers to the farmers and the kibbutzniks, the families that are growing and producing these wonderful products.”
We were lucky enough to receive a sampling of Zahava Foods products, nicely packaged in a gift basket. Some of the more interesting items were:
* Tivit Roasted Peanut and Sesame Snacks, great low carb snacks that give you a little crunch and a little sweetness without sugar, cholesterol, or gluten. Perfect for Dad’s diabetic diet.
* Pereg Rice Mix with almonds, cranberries, and toasted coconut; worked very well mixed in with white long-grain rice while cooking (though a little tough to figure out proper quantities since the instructions are all in Hebrew)
* Honey and Halva Spread, a delicious spread for snacking — not too sweet, not too thick… just keep an eye on the saturated fat.
Gayle also included a sample honey jar which was quite crystalized and didn’t lend itself to drizzling onto our challah. Fortunately, the website has information about how to undo crystalization. We also tried Onion-Poppy “Bible Bread” and roasted pumpkin seeds.
The site includes several other high-quality products, including preserves, olive oil, Wissotzky tea, herb mixes, olives, pickles, couscous, techina, and body lotions. Recipes using their products are available, too.
Another notable aspect of the site is that, beyond supporting Israel by selling its products, Zahava Foods donates a percentage of its profits to charities that support Israel like ORT, AMIT, and Hadassah.
Overall, ZahavaFoods.com is aesthetically pleasant, the people behind it are personable and committed to Israel, and there’s an interesting range of products. These three things set Zahava apart from what’s currently out there on the Internet. I forsee their main challenge, though, being offline — there’s an ever-growing availability of Israeli products from our local retailers. The Butcherie has long had a wide selection of Israeli products (including frozen and refrigerated items), and just recently, Shaw’s Supermarkets expanded their Israeli offerings with a full line of body products. For those people who don’t live in significant Jewish communities, Zahava Foods is a fine resource. But they must maintain a good selection of out-of-the-ordinary, cutting-edge, or simply tough-to-find products if they expect to garner business from those of us with ample supply of Israeli oils, herbs, honeys, vegetables, teas, spreads, and body products in our nearby shops and markets.
Finally, to be true to my trade, I have a few site design suggestions:
* Include the product category icons (visible at “Go Shopping”) on the home page so people immediately know what’s for sale.
* The category listing under the “Go Shopping” menu item should always be visible for navigational ease
* On a shopping site, I’m always hesitant to buy something without a picture. Keep adding them, even for mundane items.
* Offer pre-defined gift basket selections
* More shipping information, plus a shipping calculator
Here are the Pereg rice mix instructions–straight from Machane Yehuda.Fry lightly 2 cups of rice in a little oil, add 1 cup of Pereg seasoning and ry for another two minutes. Add 4 cups of water,k bring to a boil, mix, cover pot and cook on low flame for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, leave covered for 5 min. and serve. Add salt to taste.According to the Pereg vendor, the ratio should be equal 2 cups rice to 2 cups seasoning…he hand correted the sheet, and I agree with him.
Thanks so much for reviewing both the Zahava Foods site and some of our products. Comments on the site are appreciated. We are always updating - adding new products and recipes and of course, photos.Those of us that live among large Jewish populations are lucky to find many wonderful kosher and Israeli products in our local stores. Sadly, because of the way distributors work, many smaller communities, especially those away from the northeast, don’t have the same access. Part of the mission of Zahava Foods is to make these wonderful products available to anyone who has a mailbox.Finally, three of the Pereg Rice Mixes really don’t require any cooking at all or any measurements. Simply toss as much or as little as you like into just cooked rice or couscous and cover for about 5 minutes. The dried fruit plumps up nicely and you’re ready to eat. The directions graciously posted by Robin apply to the Orange flavor, which contains dried veggies and herbs which must be cooked with the rice.B’tayavon