“I cook amazingly, but I was terrified of making preserves. No matter how hard I tried, I failed. I told myself I’d just buy my challah from the supermarket. Eventually, we developed a unique device, a registered patent, that combines science and technology. The device doesn’t bake the bread for you, but it guides you hand in hand to the best possible result in baking all kinds of pastries at home,” says lawyer Galia Moyal, owner and CEO of the kitchenware brand MAGNUS.
She calls it your personal baking assistant at home - the device is called D’BakerAid. Priced at NIS 1,299, it joined about 250–300 SKUs of MAGNUS products, which Moyal sells on the company website. “It’s a smart electric device that helps achieve the perfect pastry in terms of yeast fermentation and dough rising,” she explains. “We launched it about six months ago, and it’s been an incredible success. Currently, the product is marketed in Israel. We handled the promo here. In a month, it will be sold in the U.S. and Australia, and later in Europe. It was very challenging; at first, we were a bit apprehensive. After all, who doesn’t know how to bake except me? (laughs). I’m glad people are embracing it; thousands have bought it.”
Buying Quality
Moyal, 52, from Tel Aviv, mother of two daughters, is actually a lawyer. She began studying law at the age of 35, earned two degrees, and today is a partner alongside her second husband, lawyer Philip Koskas, in a boutique firm specializing in real estate and civil litigation. In 2019, Moyal took on another challenge and entered the kitchenware world. She describes her brand as premium, aimed at customers who “appreciate high standards, aesthetics and functionality, user experience, and uncompromising customer service.”
“I started studying at 35,” she says. “Before that, I worked in design and imported clothing from France. I always wanted to study, but I was a very young mother. I also divorced young and focused on raising and providing for my daughters. When I was 34 and a half, my father passed away. It was a defining event for me, and that’s when I went to study.”
How did you go from law to kitchenware?
“My brother, Arik, is a real expert in this field. He lived abroad for many years, moving between China and Spain. I really wanted to be with him, and I also said, ‘Okay, I’ll come from business and do this along the way.’ I also come from a family that cooked and entertained. My father, the late Henry Moyal, used to cook and host a lot. He was a magician in the kitchen. We always had a love for the kitchen. I hardly cooked until my father passed away. In 2009, before he passed, he was sick and would tell me what to do and how. My brother cooks too; we both really love the kitchen. Arik and I invented the brand name.”
In its early days, she says, “The brand was sold in Mega City and Wineries Beitan stores as the chains’ exclusive house brand. It was very successful. People discovered they could buy quality at supermarkets. During COVID, the brand was upgraded to a premium brand and since then has only been sold on the company’s exclusive website as an independent brand.”
When transitioning online, Moyal brought her daughter, Or Elbaz, 32, with a law degree, into the business; she serves as the brand’s marketing VP. Moyal’s brother is a consultant for the brand. “I still practice law,” Moyal emphasizes. “In the kitchenware brand, I’m responsible for our entire production line. We have an office in China with ten employees; together we develop the products. I basically divide my time - three days a week I’m in the law office in the morning, and in the evenings, every day, I work with China. That’s the definition. In practice, it’s constantly both.”
There are enough kitchenware brands on the market. Why enter such a saturated niche?
Moyal: “That’s true, but we identified a demand for something higher quality, not mass-produced, not the same thing over and over. We position our brand as a luxury brand. We maintain very high production standards, very high-quality coatings, aiming for the best quality available. Everything is produced specifically for us, according to our requirements.”
Elbaz: “We’re slightly more expensive than the market average because we define ourselves as premium. But our price is still accessible. People who receive our products are blown away. The Israeli public is influenced by abroad and understands that quality cookware is essential. People realize that to cook healthy food, without pieces of aluminum and peeling coatings, you need quality pots. Awareness about quality has increased.”
Moyal: “Our audience loves cooking. Ultimately, a pot is passion. In Israel, people really enjoy cooking, eating, and hosting. Even though our price is probably higher, customers return to us once a month, not once a year, because of the user experience.”
Creating from Scratch
The months leading up to holidays are an exciting period for them. “Before every holiday, we refresh with spectacular collections,” says Elbaz. “For example, before Passover, a new product called my pan arrived, which serves multiple purposes: Pot, pan, and steamer for steaming and draining. In the coming days, the wabi pot collection will arrive. In Japanese, it means: The beauty in simplicity.”
They note that each product undergoes careful inspection before arriving in Israel, though there are occasional mishaps. “Every product, after approval and production, is randomly checked for quality by our team in China to ensure there are no defects,” says Moyal. “During COVID, we couldn’t send the team to the factory due to lockdowns. We produced a set of black plates with gold finishes, and when the container arrived in Israel, we opened it - horror! There were defective products from the smallest to the largest plate. It was costly, and since then we’ve learned that containers cannot leave for Israel without our team inspecting the products at the end of production.”
Moyal emphasizes that they manufacture everything from scratch. “We don’t take anything pre-made. Before production, a sample is made, it comes to me, and I go crazy over the product. Sometimes I even scratch it to test it. It must pass through my kitchen; otherwise, it doesn’t go into production. There have been cases I didn’t approve. If it doesn’t pass me, it can’t pass others.”
Moyal and Elbaz insist on selling exclusively through the brand’s online platform. “The challenge is to keep the brand in our hands, under our responsibility, and maintain direct contact with the customer,” explains Moyal. “If tomorrow I decide to distribute the product differently, I lose contact with my customer. There’s huge demand to sell our products outside the website, to place them in stores. We decide not to do that.”
“We have a personal approach to every customer, with product exchanges, one-year warranties, and very fast responses,” adds Elbaz.
And perhaps it’s a mistake not to expand?
Moyal: “True, we could have grown at a dizzying pace. But, as I said, we choose every day to maintain direct contact with our customers. That’s the price.”
Loving to Change
Another decision they made is never to repeat the same series twice, even if it’s very successful. “We understand that customers, especially women in the kitchen, constantly want something new,” explains Elbaz. “It’s always new passion, a new and beautiful pot. How many times can you see the same pot? Eventually, people exhaust it and want new design, new color. We’re always changing.”
“Israelis constantly change things, also depending on their mood. Israelis love to switch, change, and get excited - even over a pot,” adds Moyal. “A pot gives me real thrills. We serve our pots straight from the heat to the table. It excites us.”
According to them, the trend now is “cooking like chefs, and people are trying to fry and cook in stainless steel cookware without coatings.” Regarding colors, they add, “Bordeaux, browns, warmer colors are very popular. We created crazy pots in these colors. It’s a beautiful trend that doesn’t get boring after a month. It’s really a design tool.”
In their view, the home cooking trend that strengthened during COVID is still here. “People enjoy cooking and hosting. Cooking is a passion. Look at social media today; everyone wants to be a food influencer,” says Moyal, revealing that “although men also love the kitchen, still 70% of our customers are women.”
Tell us about the dynamics between you.
Elbaz: “Working with my mother is a very special experience; it brings us closer. Of course, there are emotions because she’s my mom, but we really try to separate that, be professional, and focus on the business. It’s quality time for me to work with my mother, travel with her, create special things together. Every product is truly a creation for us; we get excited about everything. I really enjoy it. My mother also stimulates me personally. Since we’ve been working together, we’ve grown very close. Work only strengthened the relationship. Of course, it’s hard to separate work and home; even on Friday dinners, we talk about the business until midnight.”
Moyal: “I’m also a very controlling and focused person. It will always be my way. When Or - who is also opinionated and stands her ground - joined me, initially there were many explosions about who sets the tone, who has the final word, who decides, who puts the stamp. In the end, we learned to give each other space. We also saw that when we came toward each other, the best products came out.”