Ever since she was VP Marketing in large food companies such as Shemen Industries and Zoglobek, Tal had a passion for practical innovation and its vital importance in a variety of processes that are considered to have a significant impact on the industry. Here are some of her ground-breaking ideas that changed the market:
2001 - Value Branding for vegetable oil - launching the idea that "There is oil, and there is oil."
For the first time, Shemen Industries created vegetable oil with the added value of health benefits for consumers. Shemen added vitamin E and Phytosterols to the "regular" oil, which help lower cholesterol. This created a more healthy vegetable oil than any other product in the category. The great innovation, beyond the product level, was the establishment of real branding in a commodity.
2002 - The Oil Revolution - The move to Canola oil.
Canola oil is better for consumers on the one hand and more profitable
for the marketing company on the other. Tal Leizer was involved in
the process of enriching the quality of oil even more by adding an effective
dose of Phytosterols - a low cholesterol component - and launched a move
intended to shift consumers to a much better oil. The move was very successful,
and it shifted the balance between soybean and canola oil in Israel in favor
of canola within a relatively short time.
2004 - The margarine that took trans fat out of food.
The most harmful ingredient in margarine is hardened fat. Thanks to innovative technology, the hardened fat - trans fat - was removed from margarine, and the first healthy margarine was introduced under the Etz Hazayit brand. Besides the benefit for margarine-using consumers, this move impacted a wide variety of other products that use margarine, such as the world of pastries.
2006 - Launch of a new field in Israel: Quinoa-based products.
This process began by identifying quinoa as a new and important trend in the world of health, and ended with importing the trend to Israel by developing a quinoa and lentil product - tasty and healthy burgers.
2008 and onward - Owner and CEO of Practical Innovation -
Tal Leizer founded Practical Innovation, which deals in initiating and developing start-ups for the traditional industry. It works daily with innovation processes and product development for a wide range of companies in a wide range of industries.
Her expertise in introducing breakthrough innovation for companies has been widely praised in Israel and around the world. Many of her articles on innovation have been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines.
She was awarded "Business Innovator of the Year" for her activity in the field of innovation and prestigious awards at international exhibitions for innovative products <link to Awards page>, and she has been interviewed by the prestigious British magazine Nutraceutical Business Review <link to Interview page> . She has also lectured in Singapore to leading Singaporean corporate executives at an innovation conference organized by the Singapore Innovation Office.
Tal Leizer is certified as an Innovation Consultant by the Israel Innovation Authority in the Ministry of Economy and Industry (formerly the Chief Scientist) and has brought many companies to the Innovation Preparatory Course for state-funded participation in innovation processes and product development.
Together with the Israel Innovation Authority and the Emek HaMa’ayanot Regional Council, she set up an innovation plan for the manufacturing and agriculture industry in Emek HaMa’ayanot. Through the program, it is possible to obtain a grant and implement innovation and product-development processes for companies and factories.
Tal Leizer has been invited to speak on innovation and product development at numerous conferences, including those by the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, the Israel Marketing Association and universities. At every opportunity, she conveys the important message that there’s a startup hidden within every organization, even in traditional industry, which is less used to thinking in terms of innovation. In every market and in every field, the category can be reinvented, injecting new money and new influential energy into an organization.
