Registry
Does Elite support Israel?
Yes — Elite has documented support for Israel on record, including $8,400,000 in donations. Every claim below links to its source.
Filed under: Food & beverage brands · Coffee chains & brands · Companies that support Israel
Background
Elite is a brand, not a company: since the 2004 merger that created Strauss-Elite it has been owned and operated by Strauss Group, an Israeli food and beverage multinational listed in Tel Aviv, and everything Elite does commercially or charitably is done by that parent. That distinction matters for attribution, and it also means Elite's page and Strauss Group's page cover overlapping ground: the wartime in-kind distribution and the reported ILS 15 million (2023) and ILS 16 million (2024) in corporate giving are Strauss Group actions carried out in part through Elite products and Elite Espresso Bar outlets. Strauss Group's own website also stated for years that the company had 'adopted' an IDF Golani Brigade reconnaissance unit and a Givati Brigade unit with food, care packages and welfare funding — a policy its chairwoman defended publicly in 2010 — and that history belongs to the parent, not to the Elite brand specifically. Two frequent confusions are worth separating out: the 2022 salmonella contamination that shut the Elite chocolate plant in Nof HaGalil was a food-safety failure with no connection to any Israel-related giving, and the Sabra dips business sold to PepsiCo in November 2024 was a separate Strauss joint venture, not an Elite product line.
Strauss Group — History and Legacy Forbes — Hummus Hullabaloo ICE (Hebrew) — Strauss wartime activity
Timeline of documented support
Documented support
| Type | Date | Amount | Recipient | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations in Israel | 1933 | — | State of Israel (manufacturing, employment, taxes; Israel's leading confectionery and coffee brand) Elite is Israel's iconic chocolate, confectionery and coffee brand. It was founded in 1933, when Eliyahu Fromenchenko — who had run a candy business in Latvia and brought his machinery with him — established the first Elite chocolate and confectionery factory in Ramat Gan together with a group of Zionist partners. Elite dominated the Israeli chocolate market for decades, and its Taami, Pesek Zman and Para bars, its instant and Turkish coffee and its Elite Espresso Bar outlets remain household staples. Elite merged into the Strauss group in 2004, creating Strauss-Elite (renamed Strauss Group in 2007); today Elite is a brand of Strauss Group and not a separate legal entity, and its plants — including the chocolate factory in Nof HaGalil — are Strauss facilities. This entry records the brand's Israeli manufacturing and market presence, not a donation. | |
| In-kind support | 2023-10 | — | IDF regular and reserve soldiers, emergency and rescue forces, evacuated families, hospital patients and staff From the outbreak of the October 2023 war, Elite-branded products and outlets were part of the wartime distribution run by the brand's owner, Strauss Group: thousands of food products went to regular and reserve soldiers, emergency and rescue forces, military bases, hospitals and evacuated families, and the Elite Espresso Bar chain served free coffee to uniformed security and rescue personnel at its railway-station branches around the country. Attribution: the acting entity is Strauss Group, which owns and operates the Elite brand and the Elite Espresso Bar network; Elite itself is a brand, and company employees volunteered in the distribution. | |
| Donation | 2024 | $8,400,000 | War-affected populations in Israel (aggregate reported giving by Elite's parent, Strauss Group) Calcalist's May 2025 review of charitable giving by Tel Aviv-125 index companies reported that Strauss Group — the owner of the Elite brand — donated ILS 16 million in 2024 on top of ILS 15 million in 2023, roughly ILS 31 million (about $8.4 million at ~3.7 ILS/USD) across the two war years, directed at populations affected by the war. Attribution: this is group-level corporate giving reported for Strauss Group, not a separate Elite budget; Elite is one of the group's brands and does not report giving of its own. The dollar figure is a conversion, not a reported amount. | |
| Donations total | $8,400,000 | |||
Frequently asked questions
Did Elite donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?
Yes. Documented donations total $8,400,000, including $8,400,000 to War-affected populations in Israel (aggregate reported giving by Elite's parent, Strauss Group). Each donation is listed on this page with its date and source.
How much has Elite given?
Documented donations total $8,400,000. The largest single recorded item is $8,400,000 to War-affected populations in Israel (aggregate reported giving by Elite's parent, Strauss Group) (2024).
Where does this information come from?
Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 7 distinct sources are cited for Elite. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.
Sources & citations
Record last updated: 2026-07-30
- Strauss Group — History and Legacy strauss-group.com
- Wikipedia — Strauss Group en.wikipedia.org
- The Jewish Link — Among the Elite (Nof HaGalil chocolate plant) jewishlink.news
- ICE (Hebrew) — Strauss wartime activity ice.co.il
- Walla Finance (Hebrew) finance.walla.co.il
- Calcalist (Hebrew) — TA-125 corporate donations calcalist.co.il
- Forbes — Hummus Hullabaloo forbes.com