The high cost of living has become an almost daily issue, from Knesset committees, via Facebook posts, and through newspaper headlines. Prices of fruits and vegetables are a large part of a family's food bill. The average Israeli spends NIS 345 a month on fruits and vegetables, according to a survey by Geocartography Knowledge Group, run by president and CEO Prof. Avi Degani, for Carmel Agrexco, ahead of 2014 Arava Open Day at Hatzeva.
7% of respondents spend more than NIS 500 a month on fruits and vegetables.
Fruits and vegetables prices are subject to especially high volatility. Just two weeks, already high prices jumped by almost 500%, following the last storm.
Nonetheless, for the lack of alternatives, 64% of the respondents buy fruits and vegetables at supermarkets. 43% of respondents say that the main reason for choosing the place to buy was the convenience of shopping at one location. 16% of respondents buy fruits and vegetables at open markets, and 15% at greengrocers. Only 36% of respondents say that their choice of location depends on the lowest price and convenient payment conditions, compared with 27% of respondents who say that the freshness of the produce was their priority.
Awareness about the advantages of consuming organic produce is rising. However, only 3% of respondents buy organic fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, while 33% buy organic produce from time to time.
"Organic produce is a key area of business at Agrexco," says Agrexco CEO Danny Danan. "It is a field that has begun to grow rapidly in recent years. Organic exports in recent years have totaled 70,000 tons a year, and Agrexco has the largest share of this market."
Arava Open Day
The 2014 Arava Open Day, Israel's largest agricultural exhibition, will be held on January 15-16 (the Tu B'Shvat holiday) at the Central & Northern Arava Research Station at Hatzeva, in the presence of President Shimon Peres, Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir, and Jewish National Fund chairman Efi Stenzler.
35,000 visits are expected at the exhibition, which will have stands of 200 agritech, mechanization, water and desalination, aquaculture, solar power, and gardening companies on a 15-dunam (3.75-acre) site. The 2014 DeserTech conference will be held at the same time. The conference will discuss innovative methods in aquaculture, botanical medicines, pesticides, and global food security. There will also be a farmers market by Arava farmers, and musical events for the general public.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 13, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014