Israel - Major Supermarket Chains Boycott Turkish Goods

-

Israel - A number of local supermarket chains are taking a political stand: They have decided to boycott products manufactured in Turkey.

The chains announced that they will stop working with Turkish suppliers. Among the firms involved is Blue Square, which operates the Mega, Mega in the City and Mega Bul stores, and imports flour and pasta from Turkey, through its own private label. The relationship with Turkish companies began to be problematic about a month ago, but recently was broken off, the company said.

"The Mega chain is heeding the voice of the public and has decided to stop importing pasta and flour products under its own label, which are produced in Turkey, and will seek alternative sources for its products," Blue Square announced yesterday.

Rami Levy, owner of the eponymous chain of supermarkets, also decided to cut off ties: "For reasons of ideology and conscience, it would be unacceptable for us to do nothing when the Turkish people behave this way. This is the minimum that we can do."

Levy says that under a private label he imports pasta, paper plates and ketchup from Turkey, but, "We can easily import disposable dishes from China, pasta from Italy - and we will find somewhere from which to import ketchup, too."

Rami Levy and Blue Square said that while they will remove goods from Turkey bearing their own labels, they will continue selling other products made in Turkey until they run out.

Rafi Sheffer, CEO of Brand For You, which markets the private labels of smaller chains, said he has not decided whether he will cut off ties with Turkish producers, and was critical of statements by Levy.

"Rami Levy has many products on his shelves that are made in Turkey, under different brands. If he really is boycotting Turkish items, he should not only remove products from Turkey under the private label," said Sheffer, whose company and Levy's are currently involved in a business dispute.

The Super Sol supermarket chain, the largest in the country, said yesterday that it is evaluating its relationship with Turkish firms.

Haaretz

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Huge Japan Quake Cracked Open Seafloor

-
The March 2011 megaquake off the coast of Japan opened up fissures as wide as 6 feet (3 meters) in the seafloor, a new study finds. The fissures now scar the seafloor where peaceful clam beds once lay, according to Takeshi Tsuji, a researcher at Kyoto University in Japan . Along with seismic studies, the fissures, revealed by manned submersible vehicles that investigated the seafloor after the quake, show how the crust around the quake's epicenter expanded and cracked.
Read more

Index for a million documents on Polish Jewry to go online

-
Researchers of Polish Jewry are set to gain online access to more than 1 million new documents following an agreement signed by the Polish State Archives. Under the agreement signed last week, Jewish Records Indexing-Poland will receive indices to the documents from the Polish archives authority and place them on the website of the online database within one year, a JRI-Poland statement read.
Read more

A lot of the bread in the US will no longer be kosher

-
The largest baking company in the United States will be removing kosher certification from nearly all of its bread and rolls. Bimbo Bakeries USA confirmed to JTA that it will be removing the certification. The company produces brands including Arnold, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and others. Two of its major brands, Entenmann’s and Thomas, will remain certified kosher. So, kosher eaters, your crumb doughnuts and English muffins are still safe. A couple of rye breads also will retain their certifications. “Removing the kosher certification from some of our products was strictly a business-process decision to enable more efficient operations, and it was one we did not make lightly,” Bimbo said in a statement. “Thomas’ and Entenmann’s products as well as Arnold’s and Levy’s Rye Breads will remain kosher-certified. It is important to note that we have heard our consumers’ concerns and are working with kosher certification organizations and discussing alternative solutions.” The c
Read more