A number of lulov merchants have filed a complaint
with the Commercial Restrictions Authority of the Ministry of
Trade which deals with illegal monopolies, against a number
of large merchants. The complainants claim that a number of
merchants have banded together in order to acquire the
majority of the lulovim grown in El Arish and in other
places, and have also gained control of the haddasim
market in Israel. Inquiries by Yated Ne'eman indicate
that most sellers of lulovim will abide by the
guidelines of the rabbonim and not sell them for more than
NIS 60.
Las year, Yated Ne'eman disclosed the fact that a
number large merchants in the lulov field formed a
cartel and acquired the majority of the lulovim grown
in El-Arish for the purpose of selling them at high prices
and earning huge sums of money amounting to millions of
shekels. These merchants wanted to sell lulovim at
four times the regular going rate wholesale, at an increase
in the retail price of an average of one hundred percent.
The main loser is the consumer, who will be forced to pay
huge sums for the lulovim when 40% of those acquired
by wholesalers in the market are posul. The
lulovim involved here are the mass market
lulovim of which hundreds of thousands are sold. They
are not the premium types like "Deri" which is the subject of
a feature article in the current issue.
Former chairman of the Finance Committee, MK Rabbi Avrohom
Ravitz, appealed last year to the Commercial Restrictions
Authority and an investigation was launched. The
investigation lasted for a number of weeks, during which
Rabbi Ravitz reached a compromise with the large merchants
who had formed the cartel. The compromise included the
setting of a uniform price for all lulovim. This
occurred a number of days before Succos. It is not known what
were the results of the investigation.
This year, the very same merchants banded together once again
and bought all of the lulovim from El Arish much
earlier in the year, while they were still on the trees. In
addition, they gained control of the haddasim market
and bought most of the Nov, Hameiri and Sussia
haddasim as well as others. In the meantime, in order
to prevent an increase in the prices of the arba
minim, a complaint has been filed with the Commercial
Restrictions Authority.
Yated Ne'eman has learned that the Authority has
opened an investigation; however, the status of the
investigation is unknown.
A number of large merchants in the field claim that the
merchants who gained control of the lulov market are
not religious and have criminal records. Arab merchants are
also involved.
The cartel on the lulov and haddasim market
will result in a 100% price rise. Lulovim will be sold
to wholesalers at a starting price of 15 shekels, instead of
the old prices of 3-4 shekels. The lulovim will be
sold in closed bundles like in the past, a situation in which
40% of the lulovim in these bundles are
posul.
