Carrefour's Israel launch could spark much-needed market competition

France-based international retail chain Carrefour aims to revolutionize the retail food market in Israel with the launch of 50 new branches across the country this week on May 9. 

The new branches will be opened under the Carrefour City, Carrefour Market and Carrefour Hyper formats, offering consumers an international shopping experience and a variety of products at competitive prices.

New branches will be opened in several cities throughout Israel, including Beersheba, Or Akiva, Zichron Ya'acov, Ashdod, Giv'atayim and more.

Bringing international retail chains to Israel

This launch marks the first time an international retail chain has opened branches in Israel, and it has been met with great anticipation from consumers and policymakers alike. With Carrefour's reputation for offering competitive prices and a wide range of quality products, the launch is expected to have a positive impact on the cost of living in Israel.

The high cost of living in Israel has been a significant issue in recent years, with many families struggling to make ends meet. Carrefour's entry into the market is likely to help reduce the cost of living for Israeli families, offering affordable prices and driving market competition that could ultimately benefit the consumer.

According to Uri Kilstein, CEO of Carrefour Israel, the launch of Carrefour in Israel will provide consumers with a wide variety of over 1,000 Carrefour products in about 80 categories, including food products, organic products, toiletry and cleaning products and more.

"The launch of Carrefour will increase the competition in the food industry with a large variety of quality products at market-breaking prices, a general low price level giving the customer an innovative shopping experience different from what we are all familiar with. This is huge news for the Israeli consumer,” Kilstein said. “We have worked for many months and are available to reach this moment, our team will come to each of our branches. We all deserve the best."

Carrefour's presence in the market is expected to increase competition in the food industry and put pressure on other retailers to lower their prices, ultimately benefiting consumers. 

Carrefour owns approximately 14,000 branches in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia and Africa, and has a sales turnover of approximately NIS 400 million (almost six times the sales of the entire market in Israel).

Carrefour's efforts in Israel have been made possible by recent government decisions to reduce import costs and bureaucracy for manufacturers. These policy changes were aimed at driving market competition and making it easier for international retailers like Carrefour to enter the Israeli market.

Said former prime minister Yair Lapid when enacting the suite of recent import reforms: “The process of adjusting the standards to the European standard will bring down the cost of living and open the food market to competition — we will continue to act in the interest of the citizens of the State of Israel so that they can consume diverse, safe food at competitive prices.”