Behind the scenes revealed:
The Price Control Committee was supposed to publish its recommendation to increase the price of regulated dairy products - but Terra Dairy refuses to absorb the increase, thus delaying an agreement between the state and dairies designed to prevent price increases.
The affair began three months ago, when the police asked the Prices Committee to increase the price of regulated dairy products by 9.2%.
The reason, she claims: prices have not been updated for more than two years, despite significant changes in raw material prices.
According to information received by "Israel Today", the committee was to recommend an increase in product prices by 3.36%, but then Tnuva submitted a request for another hearing, and in the end, the committee is expected to recommend an increase of about 5%.
"Israel Today" has learned that as part of the agreement, it was decided that the dairies and the state will absorb the increase in prices, and thus the prices of regulated products will not rise - despite the committee's recommendation.
But Sheetra, which is owned by the main soft drink company, opposes the matter and the dairy says it is waiting for the committee's recommendations to be published.
The Minister of Finance and his office are making great efforts to prevent the price of regulated dairy products from rising.
Negotiations are currently underway with the dairies and dairymen, so the committee's recommendation has not yet been published. Do it. "
At this stage, it is not clear how it will be possible to proceed without Tara, with regard to regulated dairy products.
If Tara refuses to absorb the rise in prices of products and raises their prices in accordance with the committee's recommendation, while Tnuva and Strauss do not rise, then the whole meaning of price controls will be lost.
Another question that arises is why Tara, which from the beginning sought to increase the price of regulated dairy products, does not raise the prices of unregulated products, which it is allowed to raise - unless it intends to obtain from the state legitimacy to raise the prices of other products.
It is worth noting here the latest report of the State Comptroller, according to which food and beverage prices in Israel were on average 37% higher than in OECD countries, and 51% relative to EU countries in 2017. The most significant gap was in milk, cheese and egg prices - which were 79% and 100% higher (respectively) compared to OECD countries.
The rise in the price of regulated dairy products is also expected to lead to a rise in the price of unregulated dairy products - which will significantly affect the shopping basket.
These are a variety of basic dairy products such as milk in a carton or bag, yellow cheese and sour or sweet cream.
Tara said in response that she "is waiting for the publication of the committee's recommendations, after which she will formulate her position. Any publication of speculation or hypothesis is wrong and misleading."
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us