Dollar’s Drop Has Not Reached Israeli Supermarket Shoppers

The dollar has fallen about 17% against the shekel over the past 12 months, which should have sharply lowered import costs for Israeli retailers. Yet a review of three major importers found that the prices of their product baskets rose anyway, by 4% to 7%, leaving consumers with little or none of the expected savings.

The report says the gap is visible in supermarkets, where prices have stayed flat in many cases and some items have become more expensive. BDO chief economist Chen Herzog said, “We would expect to see food prices falling much more than we are seeing. There is an anomaly here.” He added that excuses such as inventory, war or Passover keep changing, but “the bottom line is, we do not see the reductions passing to the consumer.”

Public lobby head attorney Linor Deutsch said global commodity prices are also falling sharply. She cited sugar, which is down 19% over the past year, or 37% when adjusted for the weaker dollar, and rice, which is down 33% globally but is nearly 4% higher in Israel. She said companies are keeping the gains for themselves rather than passing them on.

The article checked prices through Pricez and found that Wilifood’s basket rose 5.7%, with 35 of 106 products up and 28 down. Leiman Shlisel’s basket rose almost 7%, with 59 products up and 30 down. Shastovitz’s basket rose 4%, with 92 of 211 products up and 53 down. Customs broker and freight forwarder Elad Gur-Arieh said $100 worth of imports cost about 385 shekels a year ago and 285 shekels now, a 18% drop. Premium Import Candy CEO Amos Diary said higher shipping costs do not cancel out the currency effect and argued that large importers could lower prices much more while keeping profitability.