| It was November 15, 1988. I had just finished four years of army service and was returning to the Kibbutz's fruit orchards. Soon, I was put in charge of crop protection and became the harvest manager of over 1000 tons across five different crops. And one more thing: I didn’t know anything about crop protection; I had to learn it all from scratch. I didn’t know it then, but 1989 would become the year that changed my life forever due to three unforgettable quality-related events that taught me the true value of quality and control. THREE QUALITY-RELATED EVENTS External Quality: Aesthetic Defects In the spring of 1989, my Kibbutz orchards were among the first—and truly the pioneers—to join a new national Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Supported by top experts in the field, we attempted to shift to "softer" chemical sprays for controlling the Pear Psyllid, the primary pest in pears. The attempt backfired. The Psyllid population surged, and we escalated to harsher pesticides, which killed all beneficial organisms, leading to an even worse outbreak. By harvest, though the fruits were tasty and had good internal quality, their exterior was damaged by excessive sooty mold from the Psyllid’s honeydew. The aesthetic quality suffered tremendously, impacting the market value. Epilogue: In the following years, we refined our IPM approach and found that the most effective control for Pear Psyllid was often achieved by reducing sprays altogether, allowing natural predators to thrive. Today, Psyllid is no longer a severe problem in the orchards. Internal Quality: Invisible Damage As the summer of 1989 began, I faced my next challenge: fruit fly control. In those days, controlling fruit flies required highly toxic cover sprays, which were applied weekly. In an attempt to reduce spraying, we switched to bait sprays, which unfortunately proved less effective. My father warned me, "Son, if fruit fly infestation exceeds 5%, we lose the season". His words came true; the infestation levels skyrocketed, causing a visible economic disaster and a professional crisis that impacted my consciousness. Epilogue: Determined to find a better solution, I began developing eco-friendly fruit fly control prototypes. In 1998, one prototype showed promise, yielding fantastic results in Kibbutz orchards without additional sprays. This technology later became the foundation of Biofeed. Today, Biofeed provides the only export-standard fruit fly management protocol (FFCTZ 365) that includes Freedome technology for effectively controlling pests like the Bactrocera dorsalis, the global top economic fruit fly pest. Total Quality: Quality Is King Throughout my career, my father was an invaluable mentor. His lesson on quality was simple yet profound: "We must listen to the market and provide what it demands, in the best quality". This meant that quality, down to the smallest detail, had to be managed throughout the value chain. To ensure consistency, I established the Quality Control Officer as the cornerstone of our team, emphasizing that harvest could only proceed under the QCO's supervision. This principle became my mantra: Quality is king, and enhancing it is a continuous journey. Epilogue: By prioritizing quality from start to finish, we reduced total costs and improved profitability. As my father taught me, our reputation for quality precedes us, and it’s essential that it always speaks highly of us. | 
