Shufersal, Mega to raise prices of hundreds of products; social protest leader Alrov, Yishai call on public to boycott chains.
By GABRIELLA WEINIGERShufersal (R370)(photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
Some supermarket chains announced on Wednesday that they will raise the prices of hundreds of their products in November.The biggest of these, Shufersal Ltd., said in a statement that the prices of thousands of products will rise by 4 percent on average.Shufersal emphasized that the company itself would absorb most of the price increase in order to reduce the impact on consumers. It added that a significant portion of private label products would be left at current prices, and that these would not be raised in the near future.Israel Radio reported that other chains also announced a raise in the prices of their products. The Mega supermarket chain noted that their price hike would only apply to new products.In response to the price increases, cottage cheese boycott leader Itzik Alrov said chains and food manufacturers colluded to increase the price of products and make life difficult for millions of citizens – Israel Radio reported.Alrov called on consumers to support small, local Israeli manufacturers and reduce their patronage of larger chains, according to Israel Radio.Interior Minister Eli Yishai called on the public to use their power of boycott to protest the planned price hikes.Responding to the plan, Yishai commented: “The paradox of the Shufersal message this morning, of record profits in income on the one hand, and the announcement of a price increase on the other, can only be solved through a public boycott.”
