Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat: “I am excited to reveal the project, which is launching after more than six months of staff work. ‘The State’s Basket’ is a new national initiative that breaks the rules of the game: food chains will compete with each other for the biggest discount for Israeli citizens. This is truly good news for every family. The project is expected to save about ₪2,000 per family per year.”
The Ministry of Economy and Industry is launching today the “Israel‘s Basket” initiative, a new national move aimed at reducing the cost of living, increasing competition in the retail sector, and empowering the Israeli consumer.
As part of the initiative, the Ministry is leading an open competitive process among national retail chains, in which one chain will be chosen that commits to the lowest price for a basket of the 100 best-selling products in Israel. The winning chain will commit to selling the basket of products to the public at the discounted price it committed to for a period of six months, with the option of extension for another six months, and it will be accompanied by a large-scale public campaign led by the state.
The initiative is based on a competitive and transparent process, in which the Ministry of Economy publishes a closed and predefined basket of products, including a reference price for each product and for the entire basket. Competing retail chains are required to submit a price offer for each of the products, with the winner determined by the lowest total price, subject to full compliance with the threshold conditions. In this way, the Ministry creates a real and continuous incentive for price reduction, with direct, simple, and clear comparison between the chains – for the benefit of consumers.
Participation in the initiative is open to national retail chains with wide distribution, having at least 40 active physical branches, distributed geographically across at least seven out of nine regions in the country, as defined in the process. The chains are required to commit to continuous availability of most of the basket’s products, to adhere to the offered prices throughout the entire period, and to offer these prices also through online sales channels, where they exist.
This move is intended to create a real and tangible impact on the cost of living, through an actual reduction in the price of a basket of common staple products purchased by households in Israel. Alongside the direct price reduction, the initiative is expected to influence the entire market by increasing competition, creating a new standard of price transparency, and empowering consumers’ ability to compare. As part of the move, the Ministry of Economy will establish a dedicated website that will present to the public the basket of products, reference prices, the identity of the winning chain, and the discounted price for the consumer. In addition, a dedicated public inquiry mechanism will be operated for the purpose of monitoring and supervising the chain’s adherence to its commitments.
This move joins a long list of reforms led by the Ministry of Economy and Industry in recent years to reduce the cost of living and increase competition in the economy, most notably the “What’s Good for Europe is Good for Israel” reform, approved in December 2024, which allows the adoption of European regulations to facilitate imports; the “What’s Good for the US is Good for Israel” reform for the recognition of American standards, approved today by the government; the cancellation of the parallel import ban and the cancellation of importer exclusivity, easing regulatory requirements and canceling the need for the Standards Institution’s approval in certain cases, and now the “Israel’s Basket” initiative, led by the Senior Division for Commerce and Services, which creates direct competition between retail chains for a uniform basket of products for the benefit of all consumers in Israel.
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