Israel's basket ends: Carrefour does not continue the initiative

Carrefour will not continue to another round of 'The State's Basket', an initiative by the Ministry of Economy to reduce the cost of living. The chain is giving up about 25 million shekels allocated for advertising the initiative. Background: management changes and high operational costs that hurt profitability.

Carrefour will not continue to another round of 'The State's Basket', an initiative by the Ministry of Economy headed by Minister Nir Barkat aimed at combating the cost of living. The chain is giving up about 25 million shekels allocated to it for advertising the initiative. The decision was made against the backdrop of significant changes in the chain's management: CEO Michael Lubschitz was replaced by Inbal Harson, and Lubschitz was appointed co-chairman of Electra Consumer Products. The high operational costs of the discounted basket hurt the chain's profitability. The initiative was launched about six months ago, and only Carrefour participated in the tender, raising questions about competition. Now, after one round, the basket will not be extended. The remaining question is whether the Ministry of Economy will choose to continue the initiative in a different format or change the tender conditions to attract additional chains.