Olive oil manufacturer petitions High Court against price fixing

Olive oil manufacturing brand "Zeta" filed a petition with the High Court Sunday on Sunday night against the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, and the Finance Ministry over claims that mismanagement by these government bodies has caused the prices of olive oil to become inflated for the Israeli consumer, and one of the highest worldwide.

Zeta claims that the actions taken by the Ministry of Agriculture in particular, have resulted in an artificial rise in olive oil prices within the Israeli market, and as such has demanded that the ministry cease price-fixing practices and stop overriding antitrust laws. Zeta is also demanding that import taxes on olive oil be canceled, a move they estimate would lower oil prices at least by 30 percent. The High Court instructed the ministry to respond to the petition within 60 days.

The petition submitted by attorneys Eldad Koresh, Aya Reich Mina, and Shani Tafari states that, "At the start of the annual harvest the Ministry of Agriculture facilitates a deliberation among the country's olive-growers. Done with a complete disregard for consumer concerns, this meeting establishes the 'recommended price' for which the olives are to be sold at within the industry. It is here that the price and quantity-fixing take place. As the 'recommended price' becomes known, it then transforms into the minimum price accepted by olive growers so that raw materials can not be acquired for anything less than the original recommended price."

"In an unprecedented move within the food industry, we turned to the high court with the demand that consumer prices be lowered so that quality olive oil could become affordable for all. We did such based on our own initiative. The way by which government offices have been conducting themselves has negatively affected consumers and olive oil manufactures. The result is that Israel's over five-million olive oil consumers are now having to pay twice as much as those in other developed countries," stressed Amir Gur-Lavie, one of the founders and owners of the Zeta brand.

Gur-Lavie continued, "We believe that healthy and quality olive oil should be affordable at every budget. The revoking of import taxes and restrictions would immediately reduce the price of olive oil by at least 33 percent. Zeta has been active in trying to reduce the price of olive oil for consumers and tackling government offices for some time now. Once we realized that the government was unresponsive to our concerns and turning a blind eye to consumer concerns, we choose to appeal to the high court."

The latest consumer battle was won and the price of cottage was reduced - yet the prices of other food items in Israel continue to be extremely high in comparison to other countries. Israel's powerful dairy companies surrendered to a three-week boycott on cottage cheese and pledged to lower prices. The Knesset economics committee, headed by MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen, met Monday morning to discuss the rise in consumer food prices in Israel. According to the data presented, the Israeli food market is controlled by five major companies that together have command of 45 percent of the market and include: Tnuva, Strauss, Unilever, Osem, and the Central Bottling Company Group.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that over the last five years food prices have risen by 24.6 percent, vegetable prices have gone up 22.3 percent, while fruit prices have shot up by 31.8 percent. The food items that have seen the highest price increase since May 2006 until present have been; flour at 56.6 percent, oil at 39.8 percent, margarine at 37.1 percent, beef at 36.2 percent, and finally dairy products and yogurt at 35.3 percent. This has been partly due to an increase of food prices world-wide and also the rise in consumer demand in Israel.

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