Israel's Supermarket Landscape: Chains, Branches, and City Density Mapped
A new report from Points reveals that Israel currently has 1,667 supermarket branches, marking a 1.7% increase from the previous year, with 59 new stores opening and 31 closing. Shufersal remains the largest chain, operating 327 branches, approximately 19.6% of the total. This includes various formats like Shufersal Express, Shufersal Deal, and Shufersal Sheli, as well as its discount chain Yeuno. Shufersal also has a significant presence in Tel Aviv with 24 branches, Jerusalem with 22, and Haifa with 23. The company also caters to the ultra-Orthodox sector with chains like Yesh Chesed and Good Market.
Carrefour is the second-largest chain with 150 branches, representing about 9% of the market, a legacy of its acquisition of Mega and integration with Yesh Din. Rami Levy Chain Stores is the third largest with 102 branches, also operating under sub-brands like Rami Levy Mahadrin and Rami Levy BaShchuna. Together, these three major chains control about 35% of all food branches in Israel.
Other notable chains include Nativ HaChesed with 90 branches, Milshei HaSadeh with 70, Victory with 69, City Market with 67, AM:PM with 60, Yohananof with 55, and Super Sapir with 53 branches. Tiv Ta'am operates 50 branches and plans to expand with new urban formats.
Tel Aviv-Yafo has the highest density of supermarkets with 178 branches, or 0.79 per 1,000 households. However, many of these are expensive urban chains like AM:PM, Tiv Ta'am, and City Market, though cheaper options like Yohananof and Rami Levy are also present. Jerusalem follows with 130 branches (0.45 per 1,000 households), offering a greater proportion of discount stores compared to Tel Aviv. Haifa has 71 branches, and Rishon LeZion has 57.
Ultra-Orthodox cities like Modi'in Illit lead in supermarket density within their communities, with 15 branches (1 per 1,000 households), followed by Elad and Beitar Illit. Within Tel Aviv, the Ganei Sharona neighborhood boasts the highest density at approximately 2.26 branches per 1,000 households. Outside Tel Aviv, Tal Ganim in Givatayim, Neighborhood Tet in Be'er Sheva, and Central Ramat Gan show high supermarket density.
