An advertisement in the newspaper “Davar,” January 20, 1939.

Dr. Aharon Arnold Hildesheimer, scion of a passionately Zionist rabbinical family, worked in Mannheim, Germany for the British Unilever company, which produced margarine. When the Nazis rose to power and Hildesheimer decided to move with his family to Palestine, he sought to establish a branch of Unilever there. But after the company turned him down, he decided to establish the factory on his own. In 1938, with the help of his connections with Moshe Wilboshvitz, the founder of the Shemen oil factory, Hildesheimer established a factory he called TAMI, an acronym in Hebrew for “Eretz Israel Food Production” in the courtyard of the Shemen oil factory in the Haifa Bay area. At the time, margarine was an unknown and expensive product on the local market when World War II broke out and rationing began in the country, ration coupons were issued for margarine. In 1946, various spreads began to be produced, and thus the “Telma” department was established, which over the years branched out into production of a variety of food products. In 1961 the Blue Band brand of margarine became “Gold Band” – margarine with milk, packed in gold-colored aluminum. The name and packaging of the brand imparted a sense of luxury and quality to a basic product. It was the first time in the country’s history that a product was marketed by branding.