Multiple companies have announced that they are raising prices now that the holiday season has ended, but one supermarket chain is refusing to cooperate, Israel Hayom reported.
The importer Diplomat is expected to raise prices by up to 16%; among the companies expected to raise prices are Proctor and Gamble - whose products include Pampers diapers - by up to 15%; Pantene and Head & Shoulders, by around 23%; the Israeli Fairy and Ariel companies; and Tide and Lenor.
Additional companies are expected to join the trend: Sugat is expected to raise the price of some of its rice and sugar by 20%. The price of two of Yogueta's toffee candies, which the company claims are being sold at a loss, will also rise.
However, the Shufersal supermarket chain has not approved the rise in the price of Tara dairy products which are not under the government's price controls, and beginning on Thursday, these products will no longer available in their stores.
Price-controlled dairy products rose in price by 4.9% on September 1, in accordance with the Finance Ministry's agreement with the dairy industry.
Several days after the agreement was signed, Tara announced that it would raise the price of the rest of its products by the same amount, starting after the holidays. However, since Shufersal has not approved the new prices, the products will not be supplied to the stores. At the same time, Israel Hayom pointed out that Tara is a relatively small player compared to Tnuva and Strauss, and that Shufersal has its own dairy brand, which may see sales pick up if Tara's products are off the shelves.
Shufersal is the only supermarket chain not to have approved Tara's price hike, and as of now, the chain does not intend to approve Diplomat's price hike or those of the other suppliers.
Sugat told Israel Hayom: "As is the custom in the world of global commodities, Sugat sometimes will adjust prices in a measured and specific fashion, in accordance with the fluctuations in the prices of raw materials globally."