Bakeries Appeal to Court for Price Increase

Israel’s two largest bakeries, Angel and Berman, have petitioned the High Court for permission to increase the price of bread under price supervision, after a government committee refused to give permission for the companies to do so. The companies are claiming in their petition that the committee ignored price increases that the companies needed to account for.

The price increases relate to the energy components used in bread baking. The price of components of bread baking – ingredients, energy use, water and other costs – are determined by the various ministries that evaluate these things. The Energy Ministry recently determined that the switchover from fuel oil to natural gas changed the cost of electricity and gas used to produce bread.

The switchover justifies a 5% increase in the price of supervised bread and has since 2016, but the committee has chosen to ignore the change, the companies say. The court accepted the petition, but did not say when it would rule on it.