Ofra Strauss

Ofra Strauss was born in 1960 in Nahariya

Ofra Strauss was born on 22 August 1960 in Nahariya. She was the eldest of 3 children of Ella, a nurse and Holocaust survivor, and Michael Strauss, son of the company founders Hilda and Richard Strauss. Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother died in 1985.

As a girl she joined her father on his night delivery route. She graduated from the Tel Aviv University law school in 1987. She was married to Dan Lahat, son of Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat, from 1987 to 2001.

From 1987 to 1989 she worked in marketing at Estée Lauder in New York and led a campaign in Japan. After returning to Israel in 1989, she held several roles in the family business, including marketing director of the ice cream division. In 1993 she became head of the Strauss salads company.

In 1996 the group bought a chocolate and coffee company, and she was named its CEO. In 2001 she replaced her father as chairperson and later led the merger of the two companies from 2002 to 2004. She built partnerships with firms such as Danone and PepsiCo, which led to the Sabra Dipping Company in the US.

Since 2011 she has chaired the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce. She is president of Jasmine, a group promoting Jewish and Arab women's businesses. In 2008 she launched a census of women on company boards with the Israel Women's Network.