A decision by Israel’s Anti Trust Authority to approve the use by six private small supermarket chains of a unified brand for food products is “a revolution in the country’s food marketing system,” according to trade sources in Tel Aviv.
The six private small chains will use one brand attached to 400 food items at prices estimated to be 30% lower than the prices quoted by the big chains, such as Supersol and Blue square. The name chosen for this strategy is “The Brand,” to be used by Rami Levi Hashikma, Victory, Super Dosh, Cohen Markets, M.M.N. Food Stores, and Lahav Food Stores, according to a report in Yediot Ahronot. The annual sales turnover of these 6 chains represents purchasing power of ILS1.8bn (US$382.97m).
The approval of the Anti Trust Authority is conditional in that each of these 6 chains will independently fix the price for each product, not to be coordinated by the whole group.
The plan is to attach the common brand to 2,000 items within the next 2-3 years.
