Pastry Fillings

Pondering the Pantry --- Pastry Fillings

Welcome again to our blog based on the book, Pondering the Pantry, which has much more information. We offer periodic postings with information about food and food-related products, helping the consumer be a smart buyer and not be fooled by marketing gimmicks. 

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The chestnut filled pie in the bakery window looks delicious. And what about the cake with chocolate frosting and a cherry on top! Which one should you buy? As Eli Markovetsky of Anvey Zion explains, there is more to the decision than the baker’s skills in producing an enticing product.

Without doubt the first question is, “Does your diet really permit such temptation?” Let’s assume, “Yes,” and that the baking is excellent -- good recipe, quality flour, etc.

What else? The filling or toping, of course! The bakery does not mix the almond filling or chocolate frosting. The baker does not even prepare the sugar coated cherry. These items are purchased from suppliers. All that can be said is that the bakery in question has to be trusted for choosing the right trimmings and fillings.

The same has to be said for yoghurt or ice cream. The dairy out-sources the strawberry or apricot for the yoghurt and the cherries for cherry-vanilla ice cream.

Anvey Zion is an interesting company that was started by Shimon Zeltzer as a Tel Aviv winery in 1972 (hence the name, “Grapes of Zion), but it soon left wine and branched out into other foods fields. First came jam and jelly, then sugared fruits. Since 2003 the company has been in partnership with Tnuva Dairy, which quite naturally is also a major customer. Today they make numerous spreads, fillings, toppings, and coatings for the baking industry. Recently there has been another change. Anvey Zion now also imports products from abroad, primarily from Italy.

All products are “ready to use.” The bakery, ice cream factory, or dairy simply opens a package. There is no further preparation needed.

The company’s products are in no way simple to produce, and therein is part of the behind-the-scenes production in a bakery or dairy. Let’s take jelly as an example. Sure, at home you can open virtually any jar of jelly and use it to make jelly donuts. In the commercial world, however, the right consistency is needed for proper injection. Why do some jelly donuts cost more than others even of the same flavour. Part of the answer can be the type and quality of the jelly that is injected.

The same can be said for yogurt. Some dairies use the least possible fruit to put into their yogurt, whereas there are bigger pieces in other companies. The old adage generally holds true, “You get what you pay for.” Anvay Zion uses large parts of natural whole fruits.

There are other professional “tricks” listed in the company catalog. For example, standard chocolate cream is recommended for baking, but not the white chocolate cream.

Ooops! “Standard” also has a technical meaning. Although the company concentrates on quality in its products, price cannot be totally ignored. That is where the story gets interesting. Company products are graded standard, classic, and premium with a parallel reflection in price. Thus, a buyer often can choose an appropriate price/quality equilibrium. For example, Italian pizza sauce can be bought as either classic or standard quality.

According to Eli Markovetsky, if only price (and not quality) is of interest, shop elsewhere! There are quality standards that will not be sacrificed, even when the name of the producer is hidden.

Now for the good news. The company has concentrated on the professional/industrial market. Many of the customers are large food corporations or wholesale outlets that sell to bakeries, dairies, etc. The philosophy is to identify a company’s needs and manufacture an appropriate product. There are also products certified by the Israel Diabetes Association.

Today, however, Anvey Zion is expanding its retail product line. The approach is very different --- surveying the market and trying to fill supply voids. The retail product line includes conserves, pastry and vegetable fillings, and even a quality chocolate spread.

Shelf-life of retail products is about one year before opening, then refrigeration after the container is started. Sample uses --- spreads, mixing with cheeses, fillings, etc.

As usual, this is not an endorsement of Anvay Zion, though the samples tasted certain pass the test with flying colours. Rather, the reader should consider many of the issues raised.


Not very reader is in the Anvey Zion marketing area. It is hoped that readers wil apply this material to products in their locale.