The Osem Group announced that its Kiryat Gat facility will soon be making the move to natural gas, Ynet has learned. The group has inked a deal with Gaz Darom, that will supply the facility, which houses a Zabar Salads factory, with natural gas. The deal will make Osem the first company in Israel to have a production facility fully converted to alternative energy. Zabar Salads is a subsidiary of Osem, specializing in manufacturing Mediterranean-style salads. The facility is expected to be fully converted by the summer of 2014. Osem said that converting the plant was part of a pilot program and that once the conversion of the Kiryat Gat facility is completed successfully, the company's plants in Sderot, Kiryat Malachi, Yokneam, Beit Hashita and Kibbutz Maabarot will be converted as well. Though not all Osem facilities are slated to make the move to natural gas, the company stands to invest some NIS 13 million (roughly $3.4 million) in the venture. Vice President of Operations at Osem Investments Meir Imber said that the move to natural gas is part of the company's pursuit of efficient energy and will allow the company to save greatly on energy costs. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter