"Israel's Basket" closed: what discounts Carrefour will offer instead

Carrefour is ending the state-backed "Israel's Basket" promotion and launching its own discount program, Carrefour Special Deal. The new program will operate year-round in all stores, but discounts will only be available to customers who purchase at least 99 shekels worth of other items. The range of discounted products will be updated twice a month and will include hygiene products.

Carrefour supermarket chain is ending the state-backed "Israel's Basket" promotion on the evening of October 14, initiated by Economy Minister Nir Barkat. It will be replaced by the chain's own discount program, Carrefour Special Deal, which will operate year-round in all stores. The key difference: discounts will only be available to customers who purchase other items worth at least 99 shekels. The "Israel's Basket" promotion ran for six months, offering discounts of about 30% on 112 products in 54 stores and online, with the state investing 50 million shekels in advertising. However, sales were weak, and Carrefour CEO Inbal Herson decided not to extend participation. The new program will regularly update its product range: twice a month, the chain will offer 10 to 20 popular items at a discount of about 30%. The list will include hygiene products, which were not in the previous basket. The promotions will be extended to all 144 branches, but the range and prices will vary by store format. In the next two weeks, all branches will sell Elite Turkish coffee at 12.9 shekels, Casa Verde olive oil at 15.9 shekels, Mama Mia pizza at 10 shekels, and frozen Tnuva salmon at 69.9 shekels per kg. The purchase limit has been increased to six units per item instead of two. Meanwhile, the chain will review regular prices on 100 items from the previous basket, benchmarking against competitors. The publication notes that Barkat's project was unsuccessful: during its operation, food price increases were five times higher than in the four years before his appointment.