Max Brenner
Max Brenner is an Israeli chocolate retail store chain that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Strauss Group, Israel’s second-largest food and beverage company.[1][dead link] Max Brenner chocolates are marketed as "Chocolate by the Bald Man"[2] and the company operates Chocolate Bars in Israel, Australia, Philippines, Singapore, and the United States (U.S.).[3] In 2010, a new Max Brenner restaurant and chocolate store opened in the U.S. at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas,[4] followed by another store opening in Boston during the next year.[5] In June 2013, a Max Brenner chocolate bar will open in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.[6]
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History [edit]
Max Brenner was founded in 1996 in Ra'anana, Israel, by Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner who combined their names.[7] The business began as a small shop selling handmade chocolates.[8]
In the early 1990s, Israeli born Oded Brenner worked in pastry shops apprenticing to the legendary likes of George Maushagen in Germany and at Fauchon in Paris. It was at that time that he said he “fell in love with the happiness chocolate brought people.”[9] Working as an apprentice in Paris in 1994, Brenner met well-known chocolatier Michel Chaudun and convinced the maestro to take him on.[10] Oded Brenner spent six years learning the art of chocolate-making in Paris.
Upon his return to Israel in 1996, Brenner opened a small retail chocolate shop with a workshop in the back. Brenner said he came to see chocolate as “an emotional product that should be experienced through all senses.” [9]The result was the opening of "Handmade Chocolate by Max Brenner"[11] derived from Oded’s last name and co-founder Max Fichtman’s first name—in Ra’anana, just outside Tel Aviv.
By 1999, Fichtman and Brenner had opened ten chocolate shops.[12] Later, Brenner bought out his partner and embraced the Chocolate by the Bald Man concept, adopting the nickname Max.[11] Aspiring to take chocolate to a new level, Brenner sought to create a "chocolate culture” that would acquaint people with the story of chocolate, reveal ancient secrets, and revitalize traditions lost over the years.[13]
“I think most people think of chocolate like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as fun and happiness, childhood memories and romance. They can only experience all this in their dreams. Then I knew what I wanted to create: a 3D chocolate experience, to tell the chocolate story in a very broad way; a way that hadn’t ever been done before. I wanted to create a chocolate culture.”[14]
A chance meeting with an Israeli entrepreneur in 1999 sparked the idea of expanding his business, and the first of the Max Brenner-branded cafes opened in Australia, in Sydney's hip Paddington, in 2000.[10] This newly opened “Max Brenner Chocolate Bar” was to be the centre of Max’s new chocolate culture, combining a bar and a shop. This allowed people to enjoy a “holistic” chocolate adventure, experiencing their shopping in the bar section and shopping their experience in the shop section.[13]
In 2001, the chain became part of the Strauss Group, Israel's second-largest food and beverage company.[15]
According to the founders of Max Brenner, "chocolate is not just about taste. It’s a symbol of different aspects in our lives - of romance, of sensuality, of decadence. These aspects actually create the new chocolate culture of Max Brenner."[16] In 2009, Oded Brenner explained the philosophy behind his chocolate enterprise: "Chocolate to me is European so the restaurant is part Parisian cafe. Then I added some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I added spices from all over the world that we use to create our chocolates. And then part of it is like a lab - like a drugstore."[8]
Max Brenner chocolates are certified kosher by the Nazareth Rabbinate.[17]
[edit]
Max Brenner restaurants offer a large selection of chocolate-based dishes, including chocolate waffles and crepes, fondues, ice creams, hot chocolate drinks, smoothies and chocolate martinis.[18] Max Brenner's chocolate pizza was featured in a February 2011 segment of Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate/Pizza.[19]The restaurant takes a "whimsical" approach to food, with menus divided into sections such as “For Dipping,” “For Your Hands,” and “With Knife and Fork.”[20]
Boycotts [edit]
Due to Strauss Group's sponsorship of the Golani reconnaissance platoon[21] Max Brenner stores have been a target of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
In 2011, Activist group, Students for Palestine organized a series of protests outside Max Brenner outlets in Australia. The protest in Melbourne led to 19 arrests.[22][23][24]
The protests have drawn condemnation from Australian Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who remarked “I don't think in 21st-century Australia there is a place for the attempted boycott of a Jewish business.”[25] In September 2011, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that "the protesters had not broken federal competition law because the protests did not cause substantial loss or damage to the Max Brenner chocolate stores."[26] Some pro-Palestinian organizations including Australians for Palestine have distanced themselves from the protests but have publicly defended the choice of Max Brenner as a boycott target.[27][28][29] In October 2011, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia said that he is against the "full-scale" BDS campaign, and in particular expressed his anger over the occasionally violent protests at the Max Brenner stores, saying, "BDS is a non-violent process and I don't think it's the right of anybody to use BDS as a violent action or to prevent people from buying from any place."[30]
Julia Gillard denounced the planned protest against the Max Brenner shop on the campus of University of NSW, accusing the organizers of engaging in an ugly attempt to spread anti-Semitism and Holocaust-denial.[31]In a survey conducted by the university to ascertain which new stores students and faculty wanted on campus, a Max Brenner chocolate shop was the second most popular choice.[32]
Max Brenner Australia spokespersons stated that the sole shareholders of the franchise operation in Australia are a young Australian couple who have no direct connection to the Strauss Group. The franchise employs over 1,100 Australian residents across 4 states.[33]
In May 2013, the Australian national newspaper reported on a YouTube video segment that featured an interview with Australian BDS supporter Patrick Harrison, who is also a spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group. Harrison stated in the interview: ".. financially speaking there isn't really any connection between this Max Brenner store in particular and Israel," referring to the BDS movement's protests against the Max Brenner store in the Sydney, Australia suburb of Paramatta, but further explained that the retail outlet has become a "cultural ambassador for Israel". Harrison then clarified that the "cultural ambassador" notion was based upon the manner in which Zionist supporters had maintained a presence at the chocolate stores to show their firm opposition to the movement that Harrison is a member of.[34][35]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Strauss Group". Dun & Bradstreet Israel Ltd. 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-11.[dead link]
- ^ "You Can Almost Eat the Dishes". The New York Times. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ "Max Brenner: Branches". Retrieved 19 February 2009.
- ^ "Max Brenner to open large new Las Vegas store". Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved 201-10-26.
- ^ "Company Overview of Max Brenner International Inc.". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg. 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Lavanya Ramanathan (24 April 2013). "Max Brenner Chocolate Bar brings all-day dessert to Bethesda". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Milking It
- ^ a b Chocolate pinnacle: Max Brenner's new place takes the treat to a new tier
- ^ a b The Jewish Chronicle - Max Brenner brings Israeli ingenuity to an international passion
- ^ a b Life is sweet for chocolate master
- ^ a b Max Brenner
- ^ Trinity Completes Construction of Chocolate-Themed Restaurant
- ^ a b About Us - Max Brenner
- ^ Max Brenner: Australia’s real life Willy Wonka | Dynamic Business – Small Business Advice – Forums | Dynamic Business Australia
- ^ Targeted chocolatier Max Brenner 'a man of peace'
- ^ Life is Sweet at Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man
- ^ Questions about kosher chocolate
- ^ Max Brenner International Inc., Bloomberg Business Week
- ^ Food Network
- ^ Lunch, Anyone? Max Brenner, Go for the chocolate, stay for the food
- ^ Friedman, Ron (14 December 2010). "Strauss reposts IDF-support commitment on website". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ "New information fact sheet about the Max Brenner campaign". Fact Sheets. Students for Palestine. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ McGregor, Ken (22 August 2011). "Boycott boiling point". Adelaide Advertiser. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ Brull, Michael. "The campaign against the Max Brenner protesters". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ "Australian lawmakers support Israeli business". JTA. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ Max Brenner demonstrators did not break law, Aussie panel finds
- ^ Flitton, Daniel (11 July 2011). "Citizen Rudd's sweet support for cafe". The Age. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ Sabawi, Samah (16 August 2011). "Murdoch Press and the Fictional Jewish Chocolatier". The Palestine Chronicle. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Press Council adjudication No 1513". The Australian. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ Palestinian consul rejects BDS violence
- ^ Julia Gillard denounces activists as anti-Israel protest turns anti-Semitic
- ^ The ugly face of student activism
- ^ Anti-Israel rally draws small crowd at UNSW Max Brenner protest
- ^ Christian Kerr (2 May 2013). "Protests lack link to Israel: BDS fan". The Australian. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ varietygarage (2). "VG: Chocolate Wars; Protest For Palestine (Max Brenner, Sydney 2012)" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
