Ministry of Economy will encourage companies to enter the gluten-free products market

The Authority for Investment in the Ministry of Economy and Industry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, will allocate funds to the track to encourage competition and accessibility in the gluten-free food market in order to encourage the entry of companies into the field of gluten-free products. The encouragement will be done by helping to increase the production capacity and to support the manufacturers required for high entry costs.
The corporations that comply with the directive will be granted 30% of the approved plan, up to a grant ceiling of NIS 2,500,000, for investments involved in the establishment, relocation or expansion of a plant producing gluten-free food products.
The gluten-free food market is a small market characterized by concentration in different categories. For example, the market share of the two leading suppliers in the packaged bread category is about 80%; Pasta 50% and flour 45%. In addition, the price gap between gluten-free foods and gluten-containing products ranges from tens to hundreds of percent. Together with the concentration that contributes to the cost of living, shows that there are a number of key factors on the production side, which lead to a high level of prices: the lack of economic feasibility of investing in automatic equipment due to the production volume, expensive increases in strict compliance and high transportation and distribution costs.
The track is intended for new small and medium-sized players whose sales turnover in gluten-free food products does not exceed NIS 200,000,000, or in the food sector, and the volume of their business turnover does not exceed NIS 400 million. The allocation will be made by a regional competitive edge (a kind of tender) and a significant part in determining the winners is a short timetable for the establishment and supply of gluten free food to consumers.
 Nahum Itzkovitz, Director of the Investment Authority in the Ministry of Economics and Industry, said: "The assistance to establish plants for the production of gluten-free products will increase the production capacity of all these products and will serve as a consumer line for populations that consume gluten-free food, whether for health reasons or by choice, At their price. "