With additional price increases on food basics threatening Israeli consumers, some of the industry leaders met on Tuesday, 3 Tammuz 5773 to discuss the how and why. One official, Strauss Group President Gadi Lesin feels the fact that his operation is compelled to shut down on Shabbos accounts for 8% higher prices. He explains that if one adds the 18%value added tax to this formula, it is easy for one to understand why food prices are so high.
Other industry experts blame Israel’s excessively high electricity price along with water and arnona property tax rates. The industry leaders explain that they are compelled to pass these expenses on to consumers, resulting in higher prices than seen on comparable items in Europe and the United States. Other explanations include the gain of the shekel against the US dollar and euro. Kashrus is blamed for increasing the price of meats and fish especially, as is the lack of competition in the dairy industry.
In Israel, the cottage protests are over and while there was a short victory, a lowering of dairy prices, today it is as if nothing ever occurred for the prices are back up, exceeding the price of cottage cheese in the summer of 2012.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Do you think that next he’ll be saying the frum people use the blood of hiloni babies to bake matza?
Don’t dare bame Shabbos. Here however is something for these geniuses to ponder. Why are Israeli products that are found on the store shelves in New York cheaper than in Israel even with the added shipping costs. Lets all say it together now…. VAT.
obviously this guy doesn’t realize that the s’char for shmiras shabbos gains much higher dividends than chilul shabbos rch”l
Yeh, tell that guy that people are going hungry because the other six days a week to shop just isn’t enough.
He either thinks we’re fools or is one himself, to believe such nonsense.
Rkefrat, I agree that all straus produtcs are cheaper in USA
They make loads of money on the isralie consumer
Wish somone would make a real boycot
Remove VAT and give food businesses additional tax incentive and the prices will fall.
Don’t people buy twice as much on Erev Shabbos?
Don’t most Shomrei Shabbos families have larger families than secular ones and eat more foood…. more simchos???
Agreeing with some of the previous comments, it is wild to discover Israeli products sometimes being cheaper in the US than in Israel. It was also wild to spend the day in Tel Aviv for business to find it very difficult to find a reliable kosher place to eat. What’s sad about that is in chutz la’eretz I can visit a town with a minute frum population, let’s say…. Orlando or Charlotte, and have more available options in rural America than in Israel.
Go to Costco and you will find tenuva feta cheese is cheaper than the treif feta cheese. A letter should go out to board of directors of Strauss. It’s him or us. Get rid of this guy or we will boycott Strauss. It will make the cottage cheese boycott look like a joke.