Rustic Appoints Former Shufersal CEO Effi Rozenhoviz as Independent Director
Rustic, owner of the Pillsbury bakery brand, has appointed Effi Rozenhoviz as an independent director about a month after completing a 200 million shekel fundraising round that valued the company at 800 million shekels pre-money. Rozenhoviz brings over 30 years of leadership experience in major Israeli retail, marketing, and communications companies. He notably served as CEO of Shufersal from 2003 to 2010 and as its president for two additional years during the period when the company was controlled by Nochi Dankner. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Partner Communications and Super-Pharm.
In 2013, Rozenhoviz was convicted for violating merger conditions related to the collapsed Clubmarket chain and was sentenced to two months in prison for pressuring suppliers to halt discount campaigns at Mega supermarket. In May 2016, he became chairman of the Golf fashion group, serving for three years. Since then, he has advised various companies including Paz during its acquisition of Super Yuda and Fresh Market, Carrefour during its profitability challenges, and more recently Talcalal. For the past decade, he has also been a director at Beimi, which was 65% acquired by the Phoenix Group earlier this year.
Rustic is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a market value of 751 million shekels. In Q1 2024, the company reported a pre-tax profit of 14.2 million shekels on sales of 98.7 million shekels, achieving a gross margin of 42.6% and an operating margin of 14.3%. In 2023, Rustic posted a 35.7% increase in net profit, totaling 44.9 million shekels. The company’s core business is selling frozen and semi-baked bakery products, including specialty breads, pitas, baguettes, rolls, sweet and savory pastries, and cookies. It estimates holding about 25% of the frozen bakery market, which it values at 3 billion shekels retail price excluding VAT.
Additionally, Rustic holds exclusive distribution rights for General Mills brands in Israel and imports international food products such as Nature Valley granola bars, Pillsbury cake mixes and frostings, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. In March, Rustic signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to acquire 70% of a specialty dough manufacturing company valued at 100 million shekels, reflecting an EBITDA multiple of approximately 5.5 over the prior two years.
