the bakery imported its own wheat-cleaning machine from Hungary; the machine actually had to be smuggled out since Hungary did not have diplomatic relations with Israel at the time. However, health-food consumers were wary of the first whole-wheat loaves because they were white, not brown. Working with the Health Food Association, Angel's came up with the solution of adding all-natural molasses to the bread to give it a brown color. Angel's developed the only production line in Israel with the capacity to produce 3,300 loaves of bread per hour. Thirteen other bread production lines in its various plants each yield over 2,000 loaves per hour. One production line in Jerusalem has the capacity to turn out 10,000 pitas in three hours. On each day of the eight-day Hanukkah festival, the Jerusalem plant also fries up 250,000 sufganiyot, the jelly-filled doughnut favored by Israelis at this season. The bakery's digitally controlled ovens continually adjust temperatures to accommodate the fermenting and baking processes; these ovens can also bake different types of bread at different temperatures on the top and bottom of each oven. Despite the emphasis on innovation and automation, Angel's challahs are still braided by hand. Expansion and diversification Angel's Bakery opened its landmark factory store adjacent to the Givat Shaul plant in 1984. The store offers a full selection of packaged breads, rolls, and muffins, bourekas, danishes, fancy cakes, handmade pastries, coffee and soft drinks. For many years, visitors could watch bakers braid challot through a large side window. At the end of the Passover holiday, a long line of customers traditionally forms outside the store after midnight, waiting to buy the first bread off the production line. Also in 1984, the company began producing pastries and cakes in a factory in Jerusalem, and beginning in the 1990s it began building and acquiring other bakeries in a move to diversify its products and marketing base. It built a new bakery in Lod in 1995 and purchased the Tuv Tam bakery in Netivot in 1999. Today the company owns and operates five plants: Jerusalem – serving Jerusalem and its environs Kfar HaHoresh (Oranim Bakery) – serving Northern Israel Lod – serving Central Israel and the Gush Dan region Netivot – serving Southern Israel Beit Shemesh – dedicated factory for cakes and pastries distributed nationwide The company has branched into the baking of breads with special grains and added dietary fibers, reduced-calorie