Sources inform ''Globes'' that Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STEL) intends to open tens of branches of its gourmet chocolate subsidiary Max Brenner across the US in the coming years. The company opened the first branch in New York two years ago, and is due to open several more at the end of this year and in early 2009. It also intends to launch the brand in other markets.
Strauss executive VP Giyora Bar Dea will take charge of the development of the brand in the US. At the same, the group is looking to recruit a CEO to manage Max Brenner's global activity in place of Avital Rafaeli who is stepping down.
In the meantime the brand has seen higher turnover alongside operating losses. Max Brenner sales rose 66% to NIS 95.7 million in 2007, largely as a result of the opening of new branches, although its US business alone recorded a loss of NIS 3.3 million for the year.
Strauss acquired the Max Brenner gourmet chocolate business and brand from its founder Oded Brenner in 2001. The subsidiary has a factory in Bet Shemesh, and it employs 570 people in Israel and overseas. The Max Brenner chain now numbers 23 branches, six of which are in Israel and the rest overseas.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 2, 2008
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