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So, what's the deal with Nestlé, you ask?

Nestle is this big multinational food and drink company that's all fancy and headquartered in Switzerland. They're like one of the heavyweight champs in the food world, making stuff you probably know about.

But here's the scoop: Nestle's got this super tight money connection with Israel. They own a ton of shares in Osem Investments, which is basically a giant food company in Israel. And get this, they've even got a Research and Development Centre chilling out in Sderot, which is this place super close to the Gaza Strip, like less than a mile away!

Brands owned by Nestle

Osem Investments

So, what's the deal with Osem Investments?

Osem is a major food company based in Israel. They've been in the game for a while, and in the 1950s, they decided to expand by exporting their kosher products to England, targeting the Jewish community there. They set up a subsidiary called Osem (London) Ltd. (later known as Osem UK) to handle business in the British Isles, where they started importing and selling Osem products like noodles, soups, and eventually snacks and baked goods. Over time, they also added products from other Israeli and European manufacturers to their lineup.

But here's the twist: Osem got entangled with Nestlé back in the '90s. Nestlé started buying up Osem shares, and nowadays, they control about 51% of Osem. Together, they produce a range of goods sold both domestically and internationally.

So, let's dive into the whole Nestlé and Osem Investments connection.

Nestlé and Osem Investments have a long history of getting pretty cozy, and they're still hanging tight today. Nestlé has invested a ton of money into Osem, which has helped Osem become a big player in the Israeli economy. They're so serious about it that Osem even got listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Basically, they're like BFFs, and their partnership has played a huge role in boosting the Israeli economy.

Here's the timeline of their friendship:

1995-96: Nestlé makes its first move by buying up 10% of Osem Group's shares.

1998: Nestlé goes even bigger, grabbing 47% of Osem Group. They also sign this fancy agreement with Osem to share knowledge about research, development, information systems, and food technologies. Osem gets a piece of the pickled goods action by purchasing 50% of the Beit Hashita factory. Beit Hashita joins forces with Asis, another company owned by Osem, to produce pickled goods, fruit concentrates, and jams. Plus, Osem starts selling Friskies products, which is Nestlé's pet food brand. Tivall, a part of Osem Group, goes shopping and snags the Hod Lavan Company, moving its production to the Of Tov factory.

2000-03: Nestlé goes all-in, increasing its stake in the Osem Group to 50.1%. They even set up a global snack research and development center at the Osem factory in Sderot. Osem gets full control of the Beit Hashita factory and also grabs Tnuva's share in Nestle Ice Cream. They open a distribution center in Ramat Hashofet.

2008: Osem takes a page out of Nestlé's playbook and launches the Nestlé-inspired Globe project. They also shop in the U.S., buying the Tribe Mediterranean Foods Company, which makes fresh salads, and the Food-Tech Company, which makes meat alternatives. And they decide to whip up some sauces right on the Sderot factory site.

So, yeah, Nestlé and Osem are like business buddies on steroids. 

Not everything Nestle sell is made right in Israel's backyard, but here's the deal: Nestlé and Osem share a 50-50 slice of the pie. That means Nestlé is getting a piece of the financial pie from Israel, even if they're not doing everything on Israeli turf.

So, here's the scoop on Osem UK and their game plan:

While they were all about the kosher market, Osem UK managed to sneak into the mainstream market and get cozy with big-shot stores like Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury, and Morrison. They were like, "We're all about top-notch quality," and started whipping up exclusive stuff just for these big stores, which they slapped their own labels on. And hey, they weren't stopping there – they dabbled in special diet stuff too, like gluten-free and low-calorie products.

But then, Nestlé came into the picture and bought a big chunk of Osem. Thanks to Osem UK's knack for the ethnic market, they got the green light to bring in and sell Nestlé's ethnic products, like the Maggie series, to Indian, Chinese, Caribbean, and Muslim communities in Britain.

Between 1995 and 2010, Osem UK went on a shopping spree, picking up four small companies. Two of them were all about frozen and chilled kosher goods, and the other two were in the ethnic market. This move made Osem UK even more of a big deal in both the kosher and ethnic markets. They've got distribution centers in Essex near London and Bolton near Manchester up north. Plus, they've got two subcontractors doing the heavy lifting, with one handling Marks & Spencer and the other taking care of other big chains.

So, yeah, Osem UK was playing the field, mixing it up with all sorts of markets, and Nestlé jumped right in on the action.