The cottage boycott that began during the summer has snowballed and it has expanded. First, activists targeted Tnuva, the nation’s largest dairy, but have not included Strauss, Osem, and Unilever, demanding prices cuts from them as well. Unilever plays a major role in the local marketplace as it owns Telma, Knorr foods, Ben & Jerry’s franchise, Badin detergents, Dove soap, Vaseline brand and other major products.

Organizers of the boycott told Osem that basic items must be cut in price, beginning with Materna formula for infants. They explain that it is simply unacceptable to expect consumers to pay NIS 45 ($12.15) for a 700 gram (24.7 ounces) container, adding that in some stores, the formula sells for as much as NIS 70 ($18.90).

While Tnuva has already cut some prices by 15%, strike organizers are demanding 30% from the dairy companies, vowing they will not be deterred until reaching their objective.

Tnuva posted a net profit of NIS 517 million on NIS 7.2 billion revenue in 2010. Revenue was 1.7% higher than in 2009 and the net profit rose 19%.

Globe’s adds that earlier this week, Tnuva CEO Arik Schor said that the company would publish its financial report “to show the public that we are not stealing from anybody”. The financial report, however, fails to disclose many details. Not only is it impossible to print the 55-page PDF file, the promised transparency is sorely lacking. The financial report only covers 2010, and provides no figure for 2011 and makes no mention of the consumer boycott, which is believed to have greatly hurt sales.

Tnuva also failed to disclose executive pay, as mandated by public companies. The company also did not break down its sales by products, such as cottage cheese – the symbol of this summer’s consumer boycott.

According to TheMarker, Tnuva is losing ground as the nation’s number one dairy, based on a survey conducted by MarketWatch.

“The weighted index for dairy brands, which asks to what degree consumers would recommend a company’s products to their friends, places Tnuva last among the biggest four: Strauss is now in the lead, followed by Tara and Gad. Tnuva had traditionally been No. 1.

“Make no mistake; people still prefer Tnuva at the shops. But they’re spitting mad at the company, which had the gall to brand itself “home” to Israelis, then – they perceive – stabbed them in the back.”

In a related matter, Globe’s reports that leaders of this summer’s social justice protests are meeting to discuss possibly launching a new political entity, a move that was compelled by their disappointment with the Trachtenberg Committee’s recommendations for social-economic reforms.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)