Tnuva products
Tnuva productsFlash 90

Israel's Antitrust Authority levied a 25 million shekels fine on the Tnuva dairy conglomerate following a long-running investigation into price fixing. Two executives from the company were also fined 75,000 shekels each.

According to the Antitrust Authority, the Chinese-owned Israeli dairy company demanded that supermarkets sell its items at a fixed price in order to squeeze out potential competition. It also forbade food chains from selling competing products at a lower price than Tnuva items.

The fine comes after the CEO of Angel Bakery, a baked-goods giant, reached a plea agreement last week for price fixing. According to the charges, Yaron Angel and other bakeries colluded to set prices at a certain level and agreed not to undercut each other in certain areas which they divided up among themselves. Angel will serve six months in prison and pay a 200,000-shekel fine.

In 2011, Tnuva's cottage cheese spurred a major social demonstration, as tens of thousands of Israelis protested high prices in what was subsequently dubbed “the cottage cheese protests,” after the dairy product became a central commodity of contention in the general upset over the high cost of living.

Masses of Israelis boycotted dairy and other products, forcing producers to lower prices on many products, albeit temporarily. In early 2013 it was announced that cottage cheese – and all other dairy products – were going up in price by an average of 3.5%.