A survey by the Economy and Industry Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics found that the total price of products in the basket, which includes 68 common grocery products, was just NIS 809 at Rami Levy's online site during May. The average price among all supermarket chains was NIS 926, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive chain was NIS 304, or 38%.
The average cost of the basket was NIS 858 in physical stores and NIS 890 for online markets, the report said.
Among brick-and-mortar stores, Rami Levy placed first, at NIS 823, followed by Victory (NIS 837), Shufersal Deal (NIS 845), Yeinot Bitan and Yohananof (NIS 864), and Shuk Mehadrin (NIS 917).
For online stores, the top three were the same: Rami Levy in first place (NIS 809), followed by Victory Online (NIS 851), Shufersal Online (NIS 854), Yeinot Bitan Online (NIS 899), Mega Online (NIS 962), and Tiv Ta'am Online (NIS 966).
The Alonit, Super Alonit, and Mini Super Alonit chains, which are associated with Dor Alon gasoline stations, are the most expensive places to shop in Israel, with the price of items in the basket totaling as high as NIS 1,112. The convenience store versions of Tiv Ta'am and Mega were also among the highest-priced.
"The basket provides a comparative tool both by the consumer and by decision-makers to monitor the prices of popular products purchased by households," said Michal Fink, VP of strategy and policy planning at the Economy and Industry Ministry."The advertising of the basic product basket is intended to create competition between the retail chains, to make consumers significant players, and to bring down prices," she said. "We see big gaps between the chains and continue to call on consumers to compare prices and promote smart consumption."
Most chains have lowered their prices compared to May 2020. The Yohananoff and Maayan 2000 chains showed the largest price decreases of 6% and 5%, respectively.
The basket includes common items from the categories of milk, bread, meat and fish, dry foods, fruits and vegetables, and toiletries and cleaning products.