Sales of dairy products by Tara Dairy fell 10.7% in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2012, boosting the market share of Tnuva Food Industries Ltd. at the expense of Tara's parent company Central Bottling Company Ltd. (Coca-Cola Israel), according to Storenext.
Part of the drop was due to the timing of Passover this year. First quarter figures are not encouraging, with lower sales (by volume) for most categories, apparently in response to price hikes, which caused consumers to reduce purchases of dairy products. Sales of salty cheeses had the steepest fall, of 10%. Sales of yellow cheese fell by 6.2%, sales of soft cheeses fell by 5.3%, yogurt sales fell by 2.8%, and raw milk sales fell by 1%.
Sales of dairy products totaled NIS 1.77 billion in the first quarter, up 2.1% over the corresponding quarter of 2012. Most of the increase was due to price hikes for products.
The drop in Tara Dairy sales pushed its market share down to 9% in the first quarter and boosted Tnuva's market share to a record 58.9% (in financial terms). Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) saw a 0.5% rise in sales, but its market share fell to 21.4%.
Tara Dairy's sales fell despite its move to a new and bigger dairy in the Negev. The drop in sales cut across all product categories, including yogurt, puddings, yellow cheese, and cottage cheese. Tnuva increased its share of the yellow cheese market to 93.6% in financial terms.
Food and beverages sales totaled NIS 8.05 billion in the first quarter, 3.9% more than in the corresponding quarter.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 17, 2013
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