A year after the start of the cottage cheese protest, the Kedmi Committee, which examined competition and prices in the consumer products and food sector, has officially published its recommendations. The committee says that the reasons for high prices for consumer products and food are "concentration in the supply and retail segments, problematic supplier-retailer ties, and a lack of transparency about prices for consumer products."
The Kedmi Committee states, "In 2005, prices in Israel were 10-20% less than in OECD countries, and in 2008 and 2010, they were 10-20% higher."
The comparison carried out for the committee examined prices of food in 22 categories. It found that, in 2010, Israel had the highest concentration in eleven categories, and was ranked second in five additional categories.
The Kedmi Committee recommends increasing regulation of supplier-retailer relations, increasing supervision of mergers and acquisitions in the industry (it advises the Antitrust Authority to review whether dominant suppliers which acquired small food companies reduced competition in the industry), encouraging private labels, reducing quotas and non-quota barriers, supporting small and mid-sized businesses in the food industry, supervision of food prices, fostering retail competition, encouraging new types of food retailers, promoting local foods markets, and price transparency.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 4, 2012
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