Israeli food maker Strauss Group has appointed Zion Balans as president and CEO of its domestic unit.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more


Balas will assume his role on 15 June and follows the recent appointment of Gadi Lesin as group CEO, effective from 1 July.


With 15 years of experience in various senior managerial positions in operations, logistics and sales management at Strauss Group, Balas served as GM of the company’s Israel sales division in the last three years.


Earlier in his career, Balas served as operations manager of Strauss Dairies, and was a member of the team that built the new Achihood Dairy in the late 90’s. Balas was later vice president operations of Strauss Fresh Foods with overall responsibility for all Strauss Fresh Foods plants.


Lesin said: “Zion Balas has extensive experience within the Strauss Group, fulfilling various senior managerial positions, successfully steered complex and challenging processes over the past years. I am convinced that his strategic and leadership capabilities combined with his high performance skills, and his good interpersonal capabilities, will enable Zion to be highly successful at implementing Strauss Israel’s challenges in the years to come.”

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

The company appointed Lesin to his new role last month following the resignation of Erez Vigodman after eight years as Strauss CEO.


Following the announcement, the company revealed that deputy Avi Ben Assayag had resigned. Local media had reported that he was the front-runner for the job.


Chairperson Ofra Strauss said the company chose from “a number of excellent candidates” from within the business.

Just Food Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Food Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Winning five categories in the 2025 Just Food Excellence Awards, Centric Software is setting the pace for digital transformation in food and FMCG. Explore how its integrated PLM and PXM suite delivers faster launches, smarter compliance and data-driven growth for complex, multi-channel product portfolios.

Discover the Impact