INDEX / DIRECTORY / BIRDS EYE

Birds Eye

FMCG & Brands 109 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-01 METHOD V6.4
BDS-1000 Score 572 /1000 C Tier C - High
Military ↗ 0.00 Digital ↗ 0.00 Economic ↗ 0.00 Political ↗ 6.86
OWNERSHIP TREE 3 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Political: Nomad Foods Co-Chairman Martin E. Franklin is documented as a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces national board member; his foundation contributed $544,200 to FIDF between 2002 and 2013, while more recent recipient-level grant data were not located.1, 2, 3
  • Governance: Nomad independent non-executive director Amit Pilowsky is a former Israeli Air Force Major and is associated with investment vehicles focused on Israeli and Israeli-related growth technology and Israeli-focused aerospace-and-defense investments; no Birds Eye or Nomad business relationship with those vehicles’ portfolio companies was identified.4, 5, 6
  • Operations: No public evidence identified of Birds Eye’s regional owners operating, supplying, sourcing, investing, or distributing in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including settlements.7, 8, 9
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of Birds Eye or its regional owners holding Israeli military, security, surveillance, cloud, weapons, or logistical-sustainment contracts.7, 10, 11

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameBirds Eye (consumer frozen-food brand)
JurisdictionNo single jurisdiction: Birds Eye is a regionally divided brand. Nomad Foods Ltd, owner of the European business, is British Virgin Islands-incorporated with operational headquarters in the United Kingdom; Conagra Brands owns the North American business; Simplot Australia operates the Australian/New Zealand perimeter.12, 13, 14
HeadquartersNo single global headquarters identified. Nomad Foods’ operational headquarters are in the United Kingdom; Conagra is headquartered in Chicago; Simplot Australia has a Victorian main business location.12, 15, 16
SectorConsumer packaged goods; frozen food, including fish, vegetables, potato products, poultry/meals, pizza, and ice cream.7, 13, 17
OwnershipRegional ownership is divided: Nomad Foods owns the European Birds Eye business; Conagra Brands owns the North American Birds Eye business following its Pinnacle Foods acquisition; J.R. Simplot Company owns the Australian/New Zealand Birds Eye perimeter through Simplot Australia.12, 13, 14
Key Executives / GovernanceNomad Foods’ disclosed leadership includes Co-Chairs Martin E. Franklin and Noam Gottesman, and director Amit Pilowsky. J.R. Simplot Company identifies Scott Simplot as chairman and Garrett Lofto as president and CEO.4, 18
Israeli-Nexus SummaryThe documented nexus is principally personal/governance-level: Franklin’s historic FIDF role and foundation donations, and Pilowsky’s prior Israeli Air Force service and Israeli-focused investment activity; no corporate Israel/Palestine operations or Israeli security contracts were identified.4, 5, 1, 8

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

Birds Eye is a regional consumer frozen-food brand rather than a single corporate entity. Its European business is owned by Nomad Foods, its North American business by Conagra Brands, and its Australian/New Zealand business by Simplot Australia within the privately held J.R. Simplot Company. The record should therefore be read by corporate perimeter: the audits do not establish shared governance, IT infrastructure, suppliers, or Israel-related activity across those separate owners.12, 13, 14

The principal documented Israel nexus is political and governance-adjacent, not an identified operational relationship of Birds Eye. Nomad Co-Chairman Martin E. Franklin is documented as a national board member of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF). His Julie and Martin Franklin Charitable Foundation is documented as having contributed $544,200 to FIDF between 2002 and 2013. The foundation remained active with reported 2023 grant disbursements, but no recipient-level evidence was located in this review to establish whether FIDF funding continued, stopped, or changed after that earlier period.1, 2, 3

A second documented nexus concerns Nomad independent non-executive director Amit Pilowsky. Nomad identifies Pilowsky as a director; he is reported to have served in the Israeli Air Force from 1993 to 2004, retiring as a Major. He is also associated with Key1 Capital, focused primarily on Israeli and Israeli-related growth-technology companies, and Ace Capital Partners, an aerospace-and-defense investment vehicle with a stated focus including Israel. This is a personal and professional board-level connection, not evidence that Birds Eye or Nomad Foods itself invests in, supplies, acquires from, or contracts with Israeli defence entities.4, 5, 6

The audits found no public evidence of Israeli or occupied-territory operations, settlement activity, Israeli produce sourcing, Israeli state procurement, military contracts, digital surveillance deployments, cloud participation, weapons activity, or logistical support by Birds Eye or its regional owners. The company’s documented products and operations are civilian frozen-food activities. These absences are bounded review findings and do not exclude non-public contracts, unlisted distributors, or unrelated activity by individual principals.7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 17

Under the fixed, human-vetted V6 framework, the Military, Digital, and Economic domains score 0.00. The Political domain scores 6.86, reflecting the documented principal-level FIDF and Israeli defence-investment nexus, subject to the temporal and attribution limits above. The resulting BRS is 572, Tier C (Substantial Complicity).

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
1993–2004Amit Pilowsky served in the Israeli Air Force; reviewed profiles describe his retirement rank as Major.4, 5
1995Simplot acquired Birds Eye and other Australian food brands, establishing the distinct Australian/New Zealand Birds Eye perimeter.14
2002–2013The Julie and Martin Franklin Charitable Foundation contributed a documented $544,200 to FIDF; the figure predates the current conflict period and does not establish ongoing giving.2, 3
2015Nomad Holdings acquired Iglo Foods Holdings, including the Birds Eye UK/Ireland business, for €2.6 billion.12
2018Conagra acquired Pinnacle Foods, bringing the North American Birds Eye business into Conagra’s portfolio.13
9 May 2022Amit Pilowsky was appointed an independent non-executive director of Nomad Foods.4
2023The Julie and Martin Franklin Family Foundation was reported as active with aggregate 2023 grant disbursements; no recipient-level 2020–2023 data were located in the audit to verify ongoing FIDF grants.3
2024Nomad’s disclosures referenced the war in Ukraine as a supply-chain/business risk; the reviewed materials did not identify comparable Israel, Gaza, or Palestine commentary.19
2025Updated OHCHR settlement-business materials and the reviewed OpenSanctions mirror did not identify Birds Eye, Nomad Foods, Conagra, Iglo, or Pinnacle Foods among listed entities.8, 9

Corporate Overview

Birds Eye is a brand divided across separate regional corporate perimeters. Nomad Foods owns the European Birds Eye business alongside brands including Iglo and Findus; its disclosed market footprint spans 22 European markets, with Birds Eye principally marketed in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Israel was not named among Nomad’s disclosed markets reviewed for this dossier.7, 12, 19

Conagra Brands owns the North American Birds Eye business through its 2018 acquisition of Pinnacle Foods. Conagra separately lists Birds Eye among its North American brands. The audits identify Conagra as a standard publicly traded US food enterprise, not an Israeli state-owned or state-directed entity.13, 20

Simplot Australia operates the Australian/New Zealand Birds Eye perimeter as part of the J.R. Simplot Company. Simplot Australia identifies Birds Eye as one of its brands and describes Australian civilian agricultural, manufacturing, transport, distribution, and cold-storage activity. The reviewed material did not establish a separate New Zealand Birds Eye legal operator or clarify the precise product-supply/import entity for New Zealand.14, 16, 17

No public evidence identified of an Israeli subsidiary, occupied-territory subsidiary, Israeli distributor, franchise arrangement, Israeli factory, Israeli warehouse, or settlement operation belonging to any of these Birds Eye regional perimeters. A historic Nomad filing referred to national iglo trademarks in Israel, but that disclosure establishes intellectual-property coverage only; it does not establish sales, physical operations, military procurement, or a current Israeli business relationship.8, 21

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of a Birds Eye, Nomad Foods, Conagra, Simplot Australia, or identified Australian/New Zealand entity contract, tender award, framework agreement, export licence, end-user certificate, or physical-supply arrangement with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Border Police, or Israeli defence primes.7, 10, 11

The audited product record is civilian: Nomad describes frozen fish, vegetables, poultry, meals, pizza, and ice cream sold through consumer grocery channels, while Birds Eye Australia markets consumer frozen vegetables, potato products, and fish. No public evidence identified of tactical, military-specification, contract-modified, defence-grade, or security-specific products.7, 17

No public evidence identified of Birds Eye-related equipment, products, or services being used in settlement construction, demolitions, checkpoints, separation-barrier work, military installations, detention facilities, or military logistics. The reviewed UN and OHCHR materials contained no Birds Eye reference; this is a report-scoped finding, not a database-wide clearance.10, 8

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest defence is the civilian character of the documented business and the absence of identified Israeli defence procurement or operational activity. Birds Eye’s regional owners sell consumer frozen food, and no evidence in the reviewed materials connects their products to Israeli military end users, security installations, weapons systems, or defence primes.7, 10, 17

The Israeli defence-directory entry for “Bird-Eye” concerns Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bird-Eye 650 unmanned aircraft system. It does not establish a relationship with the Birds Eye food brand, Nomad Foods, Conagra, or Simplot Australia.11

The audit’s absence findings remain bounded. The Israeli Ministry of Defense portal describes procurement functions but did not provide a publicly searchable vendor or award register naming the relevant entities. Absence from reviewed filings and report corpora does not rule out non-public contracts, unlisted intermediaries, or secondary-market activity.10, 11

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of Birds Eye’s regional owners directly licensing, subscribing to, or integrating named Israeli-origin enterprise or security vendors, including Check Point, Wiz, SentinelOne, CyberArk, NICE, Verint, Claroty, or comparable vendors. No public evidence identified of Israeli data centres, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli state cloud services, surveillance technology, biometric systems, predictive-policing tools, or Israeli military/intelligence technology contracts.22, 23

Birds Eye is a packaged-goods manufacturer selling through third-party grocery retailers, rather than an operator of its own consumer retail estate or digital platform. This limits the direct applicability of in-store biometric, content-moderation, and platform-surveillance vectors to the target.22

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Conagra discloses a cybersecurity risk-management programme and referenced a third-party vendor cybersecurity incident, but the reviewed disclosure does not identify the vendor or its country of origin. No attribution to Israeli-origin technology can therefore be made.22

Pilowsky’s external investment activity is the principal digital-adjacent finding. Key1 Capital is described as focused primarily on Israeli and Israeli-related growth technology companies, and Ace Capital Partners is described as an Israeli-focused civil and military aerospace-and-defence investment vehicle. However, no public evidence identified of business, product, data, supply, licensing, or portfolio-company relationships between those vehicles and Birds Eye or Nomad’s frozen-food operations.4, 5, 6

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of direct capital investment, factories, logistics hubs, real estate, research centres, technology partnerships, innovation labs, offices, warehouses, retail operations, workforce registrations, or Israel-attributed revenues for Birds Eye, Nomad Foods, Conagra, or Simplot in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory.9, 19, 23

The reviewed sourcing record identifies Birds Eye UK vegetables from Spain, named UK growers, and China, with US-market produce described as predominantly North American-sourced. No public evidence identified of direct Israeli produce sourcing, Israeli exporter relationships, an Israeli importer-of-record entity, Israeli-origin white-label sourcing, or distribution of Israeli frozen-herb suppliers by Birds Eye.24, 25

No public evidence identified of settlement-origin product mislabelling, customs findings, NGO investigations, or settlement sales/distribution activity. The identified Australian ACCC matter concerned “Made in Australia” labelling for frozen fish and did not identify an Israel or Occupied Palestinian Territory nexus.9, 26

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest economic defence is the lack of identified Israel/Palestine market presence, investment, sourcing, settlement operation, or revenue. Nomad’s disclosed European footprint did not name Israel, and the reviewed settlement-business sources did not identify the named Birds Eye-related entities.8, 9, 19

A United Hatzalah webpage reportedly listed “Conagra” among corporate/philanthropic partners, but direct verification returned an access error. The record did not confirm donation amount, date, or that the reference was to Conagra Brands Inc. rather than another entity. It remains an unresolved lead, not a confirmed economic finding.27

Pilowsky’s external Israeli-focused investment activity does not establish a Birds Eye or Nomad investment, acquisition, or commercial operation in Israel. Likewise, Noam Gottesman’s Israeli birth and family connection to the Israel Museum do not establish investment in Israeli defence, settlement, or OHCHR-listed companies.5, 6

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

The documented political nexus is centred on Nomad governance. Martin E. Franklin, Nomad’s Co-Chairman, is documented as a national board member of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. His Julie and Martin Franklin Charitable Foundation is documented as having contributed $544,200 to FIDF from 2002 through 2013. FIDF is described in the reviewed material as supporting programmes and facilities for IDF soldiers and their families.1, 2, 3

The record does not establish that this historic philanthropic activity was a corporate donation by Birds Eye or Nomad Foods. Nor does it establish continuation after 2013: while the foundation remained active and reported aggregate 2023 grants, the audit did not locate recipient-level grant detail for 2020–2023.2, 3

Pilowsky’s former Israeli Air Force service and associated Israeli-focused defence investment activity are separately documented. They establish a personal, professional, and governance-adjacent Israel defence nexus; they do not establish that Nomad, Birds Eye, or its products support the Israeli military or any Israeli defence portfolio company.4, 5, 6

No public evidence identified of Birds Eye, Nomad Foods, or Conagra corporate statements on Israel-Palestine; direct corporate donations to IDF, FIDF, JNF/KKL, Regavim, Im Tirtzu, or settlement organisations; Israel-related lobbying; anti-BDS lobbying; corporate wartime logistics; or public conflict advocacy. Conagra’s federal lobbying and Nomad Foods Europe’s Irish/EU lobbying were identified, but the reviewed disclosed subject matter concerned ordinary food policy and did not identify Israel-Palestine issues.19, 20, 28, 29

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The company’s strongest defence is that the audited nexus is principally attributable to individual board members and their external roles, not to a documented corporate policy, donation, contract, operation, or supply relationship. The audit found no public evidence that Franklin’s historic foundation funding was paid by Nomad Foods or Birds Eye, and no evidence that Pilowsky’s investment vehicles transact with Nomad or Birds Eye.5, 6, 2

The Franklin donation figure is historical. It covers 2002–2013 and predates the post-2023 conflict period. The reviewed material does not establish new donations, escalation, public statements, or relevant activity after July or November 2024 trigger dates.2, 3

No public evidence identified of settlement operations, a BDS target-list designation, an Ethical Consumer Palestine boycott-list designation, or an organised Israel-Palestine boycott/divestment campaign directed at Birds Eye.8, 9, 30, 31

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score

Method: V6.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military0.000.000.000.00
Digital0.000.000.000.00
Economic0.000.000.000.00
Political8.006.009.006.86

V_MAX is driven solely by Political: documented FIDF governance/philanthropic connections involving Nomad’s Co-Chairman, together with Pilowsky’s board-level Israeli military and defence-investment nexus. The other domains remain zero because the audits identified no verified corporate military, digital, or economic Israel/Palestine nexus. The V6 result is scale-free, evidence-only, and human-vetted; it does not convert unresolved leads, personal associations, or unverified attribution into corporate operational claims.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://powerbase.info/index.php/Martin_E._Franklin ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133800643/201710589349100511/full ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  3. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/julie-and-martin-franklin-family-foundation-inc ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. https://www.nomadfoods.com/about-us/our-leadership/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  5. https://theorg.com/org/nomad-foods/org-chart/amit-pilowsky ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  6. https://www.key1capital.com/aerospace-defense ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  7. https://www.nomadfoods.com/about-us/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  8. https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr-database ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  9. https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/ps_ohchr_settlement/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  10. https://www.online.mod.gov.il/ENG/pages/General/Info/start.aspx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  11. https://www.sibat.mod.gov.il/Industries/Directory/Documents/Israel%20Defense%20Directory%202013-14.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/nomad-holdings-limited-to-acquire-iglo-foods-holdings-limited-for-26-billion-300068389.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  13. https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/27/investing/conagra-pinnacle-merger-frozen-foods/index.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  14. https://simplot.com.au/our-story ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  15. https://www.conagrabrands.com/our-company/corporate-leadership/board-of-directors ↩

  16. https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=98070579609 ↩ ↩2

  17. https://birdseye.com.au/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  18. https://simplot.com/company/leadership ↩

  19. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nomad-foods-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-financial-results-and-raises-full-year-2025-earnings-outlook-302389539.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  20. https://www.conagrabrands.com/investor-relations/corporate-governance/calendar-year-2024-political-activity-disclosure-archive ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. https://www.nomadfoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/nomad-foods-annual-report-2017.pdf ↩

  22. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000023217/000110465926083905/tmb-20260531x10k.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1651717/000165171726000006/nomd-20251231.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  24. https://www.chowhound.com/1823547/where-are-birds-eye-frozen-vegetables-sourced/ ↩ ↩2

  25. https://www.birdseye.com/our-roots ↩ ↩2

  26. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/birds-eyes-owners-amend-made-in-australia-labelling-for-frozen-fish ↩

  27. https://israelrescue.org/partners/conagra/ ↩ ↩2

  28. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2024&id=D000000242 ↩ ↩2

  29. https://www.lobbying.ie/organisation/2979/nomad-foods-europe-ltd ↩ ↩2

  30. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethical-campaigns-boycotts/palestine-boycott-list ↩

  31. https://bdsmovement.net/ ↩