Report finds food in Israel too expensive

Food prices are up to 20 percent more expensive than they should be, a cross-ministerial task force charged with examining competition and prices in Israel said Monday.

A year after sweeping protests brought widespread attention to the high prices of consumer goods, the committee, comprising members of the Finance and Industry, Trade and Labor ministries, blamed “concentration in the supply and retail segments, problematic supplier-retailer ties, and a lack of transparency about prices for consumer products,” for the high costs for buyers, according to Globes.

The committee, whose findings were published on Monday, compared prices in Israel to those in other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and found that 2010 prices in Israel were 10 to 20 percent higher than in other OECD nations. In 2005, the committee found, prices in Israel were 10 to 20 percent less than in other OECD nations, meaning that prices jumped significantly over the course of five years.

The committee’s recommendations include promoting competition in the retail market, increasing transparency in prices, easing conditions for parallel imports and removing barriers to trade, encouraging private labels, and promoting local food producers.

The committee also recommended that supplier-retailer relations be regulated more closely, as well as mergers and acquisitions, in order to ensure competition and reduce the possibility of monopolies.

According to The Marker, the cost of dairy products, food, furniture, education and culture have declined over the past year as a result of the protests against the cost of cottage cheese and housing that sprung up last summer.

Central Bureau of Statistics numbers also indicate that the average Israeli’s purchasing power has increased slightly in the past year, since the average monthly salary rose 3.7 percent, while the consumer price index rose 2 percent.