TNUVA

TNUVA (Heb. תְּנוּבָה; "produce"), a cooperative association affiliated to the histadrut , which markets the agricultural produce of most of the Jewish villages in Israel. It operated at first as the agricultural marketing department of hamashbir , and became an independent organization in 1927. Any village, whatever its political color or organizational affiliation, can join Tnuva and market its produce through it. In 1968, 500 settlements marketed their produce through the cooperative. In addition, individual farmers, fishermen, and food-products industries, etc., availed themselves of Tnuva's services. It had departments for milk and milk products, poultry and poultry produce, vegetables, fruits, and other branches of agriculture, each department having a separate administration. Tnuva also operated through subcompanies and by having a share in industrial enterprises, commercial enterprises, and various services. The governing body of the cooperative is a general assembly of its members that must convene at least once every two years. The general assembly elects a council, whose membership in 1969 was 105. The council chooses a governing board of 35 members and a secretariat of 17 members. The Ḥevrat ha-Ovedim of the Histadrut is represented in Tnuva by Nir Shittufi, which is a member of the cooperative without responsibility for its debts and without the full rights of membership (profit sharing, etc.). Nir Shittufi participates in the general assembly, however, with the right to reject candidates for membership in Tnuva. It is also responsible for guarding the cooperative principles of Tnuva. Tnuva markets approximately 70% of local agricultural produce. In 1968 the cooperative's turnover (not including subcompanies) reached $180,000,000). The company maintained a laboratory for the improvement of quality and for industrial processing of agricultural produce. In addition, much agricultural produce was processed through its dairy industry, fruit and vegetable canning industries, etc. Tnuva's marketing policy attempted to ensure a suitable balance between supply and demand, in order to ensure that the producer receives a reasonable price, that there be a balance between prices in various parts of the country, and that marketing be speedy and complete while scrupulously supervising quality. In the early 2000s Tnuva was the biggest marketing and trading company in Israel, with sales of $1.5 billion. Though still owned as a cooperative by the kibbutzim and moshavim it operated as a profit-oriented company under modern management, in four major divisions: milk and dairy; meat; fruit and vegetables; and eggs. It also had a number of subsidiaries, such as Sunfrost, Tiv Tirat Zvi, and Harduf Organic Foods. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Histadrut, Makhon le-Meḥkar Kalkali ve-Ḥevrati, Meshek ha-Ovedim 1960 – 65 (1967); I. Avneri (ed.), Ha-Lu'aḥ ha-Ko'operativi shel Medinat Yisrael (1968). WEBSITE: www.tnuva.co.il . (Leon Aryeh Szeskin / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)