The largest company in Israel for the production and marketing of milk and its products.
It has been here for 100 years and is ranked high among the top ten in every nostalgic table published from time to time in the media, with the title: "What is most Israeli in your opinion?"
"Tnu-va" is an old and ancient Hebrew word with a biblical scent, and its meaning is: agricultural yield.
The Israeli company Tnuva (pronounced with an accent on the first syllable: Tnu-va) is known to Israelis by a variety of its products: fresh milk in a carton, plastic bag or bottle. One liter, three liters or five. Chocolate milk in a plastic bag or a bottle.
For Israelis who consume its products, Tnu-va is also:
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"Cottage cheese" and "five percent white cheese" or "nine percent cheese."
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Cream, yogurt, milk puddings for children, teenagers and adults.
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Butter, sophisticated cheeses of various kinds. And not only these—over the years, Tnuva entered other fields in the food industry, such as: eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, frozen vegetables.
The products of Tnu-va are found on the tables of Israeli citizens, of all ages, from all sectors without distinction of religion or nationality—in restaurants, in hotels, and in every place where there are men and women who are not lactose intolerant. Those who believe that dairy products are good for their health, just as they learned from their parents, grandparents and everyone who has lived here in the last hundred years.
Tnuva has come a long way—since its establishment as a marketing channel for kibbutz and moshav farmers of the pioneering Land of Israel, until it was sold to a foreign investment fund that made a quick profit from it and sold it at a higher price to a Chinese company.
And so, a company with a pure Hebrew name with a nostalgic flavor, a company that stars in the stories of the veterans—changed ownership, and is in the hands of investors who have no connection to nostalgia.
The foreign investors from abroad see it as a machine for making money, a lot of money—all of it the harvest of the Israelis' wallets, who cannot part with the brand that is so Israeli, nostalgic, and tasty.
The products of Tnu-va are found on the tables of Israeli citizens
Historical bits
Tnuva has accompanied the history of the state since its establishment and long before.
It represents daily Israeliness, and the ability to move forward with technology and with the changes taking place in the economy and society.
Its management was calculated, historical circumstances opened up the markets for it, and these two allowed it to grow and establish itself—the company accumulated healthy profits that placed it at a significant distance from its competitors, until it became a monopoly.
Here is a brief look at some of the concepts that put Tnuva in the top ten of the "What is most Israeli in your opinion" list.
A Zionist-Israeli Symbol:
The first framework of Tnuva was established in 1923, during the period of the British Mandate. Then, it was still a "cooperative society"—a commercial organization based on the group organization of people and small communities in the socialist period of the beginning of the Hebrew settlement in the Land of Israel.
It was a small settlement—only a few hundred thousand Jews, most of whom lived in cities and moshavot, in the village and in the kibbutz, under the British Mandate authorities.
Agriculture had a central role in the settlement of the land and in the supply of fresh food to its inhabitants. This role was taken on by the people of "the Working Settlement"—members of kibbutzim and moshavim. They, with the generous assistance of the leadership of the Jewish settlement, gave agriculture supreme value, and an important status in fulfilling the Zionist vision.
The farmers from the kibbutz and the moshav cultivated the land and milked the cows with hard and grueling work.
The produce they yielded was marketed through cooperative societies they established, along with farmers with private farms in the cities and moshavot. The marketing was done diligently and efficiently, to all parts of the settlement in the country and also to the official institutions of the British and the Jews.
Tnuva was a main channel for the supply of dairy products, and within a decade—eggs and fresh vegetables and fruits were also added to the basket of products it marketed.
After the establishment of the state, it was a leading supplier of fresh food products in Israel, leaving all the small competitors in the market in the dust. Over the years, it penetrated other fields in the food industry and became a giant conglomerate that was and remains a deep-rooted Israeli symbol owned by moshavim and kibbutzim.
In the 21st century, Tnuva parted with its historical image. After it changed its status from a "cooperative society" to a limited company, it passed into private hands owned by an investment fund and was later sold to Bright Food (Group) Co. Ltd. owned by the Chinese government.
A Big Green Truck:
A famous children's song on which all Israeli children who were born during the period of the state's establishment and in the first decades of its existence grew up.
The song was written in inspiration of the green truck that, in the 1940s, transported Tnuva's produce to every store and to every home.
Our truck goes far
In the morning it goes, in the evening it returns
It transports to "Tnuva" eggs and milk
Tnuva and the Dairy Sector:
Some facts about Tnu-va and the dairy sector:
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Tnuva is the most prominent player in the development of the dairy sector in Israel.
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It was here when milk was marketed in metal jugs, then in glass bottles, in plastic bags, and until its main marketing today in cartons and plastic bottles.
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The processes of milk pasteurization were the first to arrive at its dairies.
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Its milk was marketed by milkmen and milk distributors, on donkeys, on motorcycles and in trucks.
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A "distribution line" of Tnuva products was a valuable asset in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Tnuva brought us cottage cheese, one of the most prominent symbols of dairy products in Israel.
Privatization and a National Farewell:
Tnu-va was sold in 2008 to foreign investors who knew its commercial value.
The sales process received high coverage in all media outlets, and everyone mentioned the symbol that was leaving Israeli hands for foreign ownership.
Many called the process "privatization," even though the acquiring company was not private but a public company, but the nostalgia made Tnuva belong, at least metaphorically, to the people and the state. And when "our" Tnu-va is sold to a foreign-owned company, there were those who saw it as an offense to Israeliness itself.
This is part of "The Israeli Story 1948-2025" project.
What is "The Israeli Story"?
A curated selection of Israeli snapshots, those that were and still are with us. Each one deserves an updated definition with a few words of explanation along with a tiny bit of history. Just a little – and all of them together go into the virtual Israeli Story that will remain online for future generations. You can see what's included in it by clicking on the icon below.
