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the highland park landmark | November 9, 2017 | 3
Looking for the sweeter things
Highland Park
native co-founds
California date
nectar company
Margaret Tazioli
Freelance Reporter
When Highland Park
native Brian Finkel decided
to spend a year in “the
promised land,” he didn’t
go for the milk and honey
— but he ended up staying
for it.
Date nectar, a sweetener
common in Middle
Eastern pantries, is a crisp
syrup that can be used in
place of things like bee
honey, brown sugar, molasses
or maple syrup. It’s
very common in Israel.
“There’s 10 brands [of
date nectar] in every supermarket,
and Israelis put
it on everything,” Finkel
said.
But date nectar is virtually
unknown in America.
The grocery stores that do
keep it in stock, import
it and put it in the ethnic
aisle.
“We don’t believe
this product belongs
in the ethnic aisle,” Finkel
said. “We think it should
be mainstream. We want
to see it go from an ethnic
specialty to something everyone
has in the pantry—
like hummus.”
Founder and CEO of
D’vash Organics, Finkel,
and his California-based
partner David Czinn are
making D’vash Date Nectar
from organic California
dates and marketing it for
Americans.
But Finkel wasn’t always
a connoisseur of
Israeli cuisine. He grew
up in a traditional Jewish
home in Highland Park.
He attended Ida Crown
Brian Finkel’s business partner David Czinn (left) and
Finkel. The duo founded D’vash Organics, a California
date nectar producer. PHOTO SUBMITTED
Jewish Academy in Skokie.
He studied Hebrew,
Jewish philosophy and history.
He also played baseball
and basketball.
Ida Crown was a 5-year
program, Finkel said. Four
years in Skokie, one in Israel.
During the post highschool
year Finkel spent
in Jerusalem, he not only
fell in love with Israel, but
with Israeli cuisine. He
met his now best friend
and date nectar business
partner Czinn during that
time.
When they came back
to the states, Czinn established
Fruigees (an organic
fruit-and-veggie snack
business) after college and
Finkel went to work as a
financial consultant.
Finkel eventually decided
to move back to Jerusalem
and he brought the
consulting job with him—
handling the European,
Middle Eastern and Asian
desk for his company.
It wasn’t long after he
moved back to Jerusalem
that he would meet
his wife, dream up a date
nectar business plan and
partner with his old friend
Czinn to make it a reality.
D’vash Date Nectar
launched in a few national
chain stores in June and
will be available on Amazon
and at Thrive markets
within the coming months.
“We’ve been picked up
by the two largest naturalfood
distributors in the
U.S. and that will help us
get in front of the management
of nearly every major
store in the country,” Finkel
said.
Finkel emphasizes that
date nectar is an organic,
locally sourced vegan
sweetener that dates back
to biblical times.
Nearly 3,500 years after
the book of Genesis
was written, Israel is still
known for its delicious
“honey” in the form of
date nectar.
Finkel wants to bring it
to America.
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