Searching out the perfect product

Omer-based Gadi Galinsky traverses Israel seeking people with a passion for crafting foods they make themselves with no compromise on quality.

By YOCHEVED MIRIAM RUSSON
Gadi Galinsky (photo credit: Courtesy)
Gadi Galinsky
(photo credit: Courtesy)
When life threw lemons at Gadi Galinsky, the 38-year-old Omer-based entrepreneur didn’t bother with making lemonade out of them.
Instead, he did something entirely unconventional: He planted more lemons.
Actually, it wasn’t lemons, but chocolate. Fine, gourmet, designer chocolate – the best of the best. That’s what had captured Galinsky’s heart.
“Several years ago, a partner and I opened Génaveh, a very fine, high-quality chocolate shop in Beersheba.
Because of family connections in Luxembourg, we were able to import handmade chocolates from Belgium. They were the best, and had won prizes in both New York and Paris,” he begins.
“But then we ran into trouble,” the tall, affable Galinsky recalls. “I’ll spare you the details, but we lost the ability to continue importing. We had to close the shop.”
But by the time that happened, Galinsky was ready.
“All along the way, I’d been working on another idea, watching a trend. Here in Israel, the market for highquality gourmet foods was just exploding. People – all kinds of people, not just the wealthy – were looking for new, high-quality foods and beverages.
“Tired of Osem and Elite, they occasionally wanted to treat themselves, be a little more adventurous. They wanted something that was a cut above – higher quality, better-tasting, all natural, and without preservatives.
I wanted to find a way to tap into that burgeoning local demand for fine, high-quality, gourmet foods of all kinds.”
Galinsky began traveling all over Israel seeking out food artisans, people with a passion for crafting high-quality foods, products they made themselves, with no compromise on quality.
“As I met and talked with those kinds of craftsmen, I saw that their biggest problem lay in execution – selling what they made to shops and stores. I decided that that was my opportunity. If I took over the marketing for them – identified the shops, stores and delis who sold these high-end, gourmet products – everyone would benefit.
The craftsmen would sell more, and Israelis who were looking for exactly that kind of thing would be able to find it.
“I started with chocolate, because that’s what I knew best. I’ve got something like an MBA in chocolate,” Galinsky grins. “I can define all the various flavors of chocolate. It’s like wine: people who know chocolate can tell you where the beans were grown, and under what conditions.
“The beans are very individualistic in flavor, but the quality of the finished product depends on several things, including the quality of the beans themselves, how they’re harvested, roasted and processed.
Everything relating to chocolate making is an art.”
GALINSKY CREATED his start-up, Fine Gourmet b’Bayit Tov, amplified by the tag-line “From Metulla to Eilat.”
“This business was a natural for me,” said Galinsky, who earned a degree in Jewish history and spent a year teaching before going into sales. “I had left sales before because I wanted a business of my own. And here it was.”
So Galinsky started signing up chocolatiers.
“My first client was Holy Cacao, owned by two partners, Jo Zander and Zev Stender, who make chocolate in an Old World way, entirely unique in the Middle East. Their ‘bean-to-bar’ process leaves the cocoa so pure it even received rabbinical backing to say the ‘borei pri ha’etz’ blessing for things that grow on trees, rather than the generic ‘shehakol’ blessing used for other chocolates.
“Holy Cacao roasted their own beans, refined them with pure cane sugar, ‘conched’ them, kneading the chocolate mass at a high temperature, then aged it for six months before pouring it into molds.”
These were Galinsky’s kind of people.
“The people I love to work with have a passion for what they’re making,” Galinsky says. “For Jo and Zev, making chocolate isn’t just a job. It’s a creative process that’s part of who they are.”
Galinsky tells customers how to enjoy Holy Cacao chocolate.
“Don’t chew it, don’t crush it. Savor it. Like good wine, you have to let the taste open up in your mouth.
This is very special chocolate.”
Holy Cacao chocolate comes from Hebron, while Galinsky’s second clients hailed from Netanya.
“‘Katan v’Tov’ – ‘a little something sweet’ – is a different kind of chocolate,” Galinsky explains. “It’s made by two ladies who also have a passion for chocolate. People love the nutty fillings, especially the one with peanut butter. Their chocolates are worth seeking out.”
Galinsky’s third chocolatier, Caja Zafritim, wins the ‘most beautiful’ award. Truffles molded into stars, ovals and buttons are enhanced by tiny swirls, circles or fanciful shapes on top.
“These are magnificent,” he comments.
“They’re made by a lady who used to be a kindergarten teacher, in the Lachish region, our wine country. She makes the most delicate chocolate I’ve seen – the one with the Grand Marnier filling reminds me of the finest chocolates from Europe.
“Notice how smooth the ganache is, how thin the shell – that’s the standard of a fine candy: the thinner the shell, the better the candy. That means it won’t be too aggressive, too sweet. These are just about perfect.”
Having signed up three chocolate makers, Galinsky began to expand.
“I was traveling a lot, and whenever I’d see a sign for something homemade – whatever it was – I’d stop. I’m not afraid of high prices – if the quality is right, that’s not a problem.
Deter and Ofer Ofim in Yad Hashmona were baking some exquisite gourmet things like crackers and bread sticks. They started out as a regular bakery, but then began making other more unusual high-end items. These are the best.”
It’s almost impossible to lump the Yad Hashmona “crackers” in with the kind sold in grocery stores. Nothing about these crackers suggests that their highest and best use is to convey some other food to your mouth; they’re the main event all by themselves.
Larger – as big as a half-slice of bread – heavier and more solid, their taste is incomparable. Rich with olive oil, crunchy with whole wheat and other grains, then topped with several different kinds of seeds, these crackers are to be savored, too.
“Deter and Ofer’s crackers are my biggest-selling product right now,” Galinsky says. “I go to my stores, stock their shelves and they just disappear. They’re very popular.”
Then Morenas cookies came aboard.
“They make a perfect butter cookie,” Galinsky says. “They started making cookies back in 2003, and now have several different kinds.
They’re just exquisite – you can tell: Whenever I visit a shop for the first time, hoping they’ll carry my products, I always warn them, ‘Don’t eat breakfast!’ You can see why. All this stuff is great.”
Galinsky carries olive oil and honey from Ptora.
“There’s a lot of history to the Ptora brand, and the Tamir family who started it. As pioneers, they began farming in Moshav Sde Moshe just outside Kiryat Gat. Olives have been grown there since ancient times. This is the third generation. The olive oil is very delicate, very European. It’s a blend of two different kinds of olives, very Italian.”
GOURMET COFFEE was another idea.
“I came across Danny Bar-Lev, an interesting guy who used to be in hi-tech and spent several years in the US. He’d learned to love good coffee, but couldn’t find any he liked in the States, so he started roasting it himself. They came back to Israel, and he kept roasting and blending gourmet coffees for himself and friends. Cafe Anin came into being.
“He does all the processes himself, everything by hand – a real coffee craftsman.”
Galinsky is still adding to his product line, still driving the back roads of Israel looking for food artisans.
“Now, though, lots of them contact me. It’s getting easier, but I’m still working awfully hard to get this business going,” Galinsky, who’s married and the father of two, says, referring to the long hours the business claims.
“As far as I know, no one else in Israel is doing what I’m doing, so that’s another challenge. But it’s a great business. I meet the finest people in Israel and every one of them becomes a good friend.”
When considering a new product line, Galinsky is after certain characteristics.
“I look for products that are different – not the sort of thing you’d find in a supermarket. I look for foods that are handmade by someone who loves the process. Then, too, everything must be kosher. Most of these products are mehadrin.
“I’m a secular guy, but I’m selling food to Israelis, and in Israel, we eat kosher. That’s just the way it is.”
But most important for Galinsky are the people.
“When I’m considering adding something new, I look at the people themselves. I like to work with real people – people who have stories about who they are and why they do what they do.
Who tell me how much they love what they’re doing.
“When a food has been made with love, you can taste the difference.”