The new chairman of Shufersal, Itzik Abarkhan, was questioned on Sunday on suspicion of coordinating price increases

The new chairman of Shufersal, Itzik Abarkhan, was questioned on Sunday at the offices of the Competition Authority. The current investigation is a continuation of the investigation that has been ongoing since November 2021 on suspicion of coordinating price increases in the food industry. Shufersal and Strauss are the two main suspects in the case, in which many senior officials from retailers and food suppliers were questioned. Strauss executives were also questioned once more a few weeks ago.
In November, an investigation by the Competition Authority became public, when its officers raided the offices of Shufersal Group in Rishon Lezion, confiscating documents and computer materials.
About a month ago, Aberkhan was appointed chairman of Shufersal after several months outside the company, preceded by a period of about a decade in which he served as the company's CEO. During the last months of his tenure, Abarkhan made a number of public statements that could be considered an attempt to coordinate a price increase. Shufersal is the largest food retailer in Israel and the fourth largest food supplier through its private label.
In August 2021, after the Paz company announced that it would acquire Freshmarket for approximately 2 billion shekels, and Electra and Fenix ​​entered as partners in Bitan-Mega wines, Abarkhan referred to the increasing competition in the neighborhood supermarkets, saying "I have not seen that the companies that enter the city centers are criticized for their high gross profitability, and therefore Everyone is running there." Abarkhan added that "our working assumption is that the main idea of ​​players like Paz, Electra Korveh and others that enter city centers is not to create a discount in the city, but to make a good profit. Everyone will try to keep the raw, because if they lower it - the additional turnover they will receive will not cover the profit they will lose."