Last Updated on December 9, 2016
Shopping for Groceries in Israel
Best deals? Small Packaging – High Prices
We’re always looking for ways to reduce our monthly grocery bill and so we are often tempted to take advantage of special offers. Are these special offers really a saving or are they actually a way of getting more money from us and increasing profits? Suddenly we notice our favorite chocolate bar is a little smaller or there are now 20 tea bags in a box instead of 25.
Financial advisors might tell you to calculate the price per 100 grams or per kilogram when looking for a cheaper item, but for the most part we never do. We have so many Aliyah related issues we have to deal with on a daily basis and doing price calculations in the supermarket is just an added bother. But if you knew that you were actually paying 700 shekels/kg for your favorite herbal tea, or 440 shekels/kg for bay leaves, might you reconsider your shopping strategy or your choices?
We selected 23 grocery items and discovered that their retail price per kilo was outrageous and simply horrifying. The prices listed below are accurate as of 12.12.2016 and were taken from the Shufersal online shopping website. The costs of similar items in other supermarkets may be more, similar or even less.
| Item | Price/kg Shekels | Package Price | Package Size | Comments | |
| Osem Mini Prichonim | 168 | 4.20 | 25g | ||
| Energy Rice Cakes | 81 | 10.90 | 135g | ||
| Loacker milk and cereal snacks | 119 | 11.90 | 25g x 4 | ||
| Elite instant coffee | 192 | 9.60 | 50g | We all know coffee is expensive but Nescafe Red Mug for example, can be bought for around 20-25 shekels/200g which is equivalent to 80 – 100 shekels per kg (half the price of this item). | |
| Lipton tea 1.5 g | 202 | 7.50 | 37.5g (25 tea bags) | FYI – The current wholesale world tea price is 0.0293 USD/kg as at November 2016. The retail tea price in Israel is between 202 – 700 shekels/kg. In comparison, 1kg of loose tea can be bought in South Africa for R133 (retail) which is equivalent to 37 shekels/kg. We are paying a fortune for the actual tea bag. Do we need a pretty tag on our tea bag? It just adds to the cost of the final product. | |
| Lipton’s Early Grey Green Tea | 496 | 14.90 | 20 tea bags | ||
| Wissotsky’s Earl Grey | 398 | 29.90 | 75g (50 tea bags) | ||
| Wissotsky’s green tea with limonana and louisa | 700 | 25.90 | 25 tea bags | ||
| Wissotsky’s Redbush tea | 490 | 24.50 | 50g (25 tea bags) | ||
| Taam Vereach Black Pepper (refill) | 165 | 13.20 | 80g | Check out the prices of herbs and spices at your local market (shuk). There is a huge saving here. | |
| Taam Vereach Oregano (refill) | 340 | 6.80 | 20g | ||
| Taam Vereach Bay leaves (refill) | 440 | 8.80 | 20g | ||
| Fancy Feast chicken hearts & liver cat food | 69 | 5.90 | 85g | Maybe make your own! Fresh chicken livers at the butchery counter are only 18 shekels/kg | |
| Sucara Diet Sweetener | 323 | 25.90 | 80g | ||
| Sucrazit Stivia | 249 | 24.90 | 100 sachets | ||
| Tapuchips Kids | 66.70 | 3 | 40g | How many kilos of potatoes can be bought for 66 shekels? 20 -25kg. | |
| Tapuchips (regular) | 76 | 3.80 | 50g | ||
| Bamba | 88 | 2.20 | 25g | ||
| Apropo Snack | 102 | 5.10 | 50g | ||
| Knorr instant soup sachets | 160.50 | 6.90 | 21.5g x 2 | ||
| Mentos mint chewing gum | 190 | 17.10 | 90g | ||
| Elite chocolate hearts | 198 | 9.90 | 50g | A regular 100g slab of Elite chocolate is 1/4 of the price | |
| Ferrero Rocher Chocolates (Conical pack) | 186.80 | 39.60 | 212g | The same Ferrero Rocher chocolates in a rectangular box cost 25.30 for 200g or 126 shekels/kg. You are paying an extra 30% for the packaging. With the simplest cardboard packaging, a 100g box of Ferrero Rocher works out to 100 shekels/kg or almost 50% less. |
We are not suggesting that you start making potato chip snacks or switch back to sugar instead of sweetener, we are just trying to bring this pricing information to your attention so that you can make wise shopping choices. Most supermarkets display the price per 100g on food items, so take the time to check and compare. There are clearly places where you can save a bundle and these savings will amount to a considerable sum when you add them up over a 12 month period.
Not all special offers are actually special. Packaging techniques may make you pay more for less. Every agora of your Aliyah budget is precious and we hope that this information will help you stretch your shekel.
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