Israel Faces Cottage Cheese Shortage After Holiday Production Halt

Israeli supermarkets are experiencing a shortage of white cottage cheese and quark, with 250-gram packages of 5% fat "Tzfat" cheese from Strauss and 5% and 9% fat quark from Tara and Tnuva brands being particularly hard to find. Shoppers report that refrigerator shelves are emptying by evening, with cottage cheese available in the morning but quark almost entirely absent. Larger 500-gram packages are sometimes available. The dairy industry expects the shortage to last no more than a week, attributing it to the production halt during the Yom Kippur holiday, which fell on Sunday and Monday, September 20-21. Dairy plants require several hours to restart equipment and resume production after such breaks. The Milk Council had previously warned of potential localized disruptions before the holidays. When Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah occur at the beginning of the week, dairy plants can be idle for several consecutive days, including Shabbat and the holiday itself. During the shortage, consumers seeking alternatives are encountering significant price differences. One shopper noted that a 225-gram package of Tnuva's 9% fat "Napoleon" cream cheese cost 16.90 shekels, while the state-regulated price for white cottage cheese is no more than 5.87 shekels per 100 grams. "Napoleon" was thus over 220% more expensive per 100 grams. The price of "Napoleon" is not state-regulated, unlike standard white cottage cheese. "Napoleon" was found priced between 17.90 and 18.90 shekels per package in some stores, though promotional prices were lower in chains like Victory City and Salah Dabah. Even promotional prices of 11 or 12 shekels for "Napoleon" were criticized as exorbitant by consumers, especially given the shortage of regulated-priced cheeses. Journalists also compared the price of Strauss's 5% fat "Symphony" cream cheese, a competitor to "Napoleon," which ranged from 7.70 to 13.90 shekels for a 200-gram package. "Napoleon" packages, at 225 grams, ranged from 9.90 to 18.90 shekels. While the lowest prices were comparable, the highest prices showed a significant difference, with "Napoleon" being up to 20% more expensive per 100 grams, potentially due to its higher fat content. However, Tnuva stated that reducing fat content is a costly process, making the price difference unclear. Other cream cheeses, like Tara's 5% fat option and Gad's "New York" 5% fat cheese, were also found to be expensive, with "New York" being the priciest in its category. Imported options like Arla and Philadelphia Light were also not necessarily cheaper.