Black stickers: The government's new plan to shame companies raising prices during war

Economy Minister Nir Barkat announced on Thursday the latest step in consumer protection regulations, proposing affixing black stickers to products that have had their prices raised during wartime without government agreement.

In order to protect consumers from price rises during wartime a company blacklist/whitelist was implemented following the outbreak of the war on October 7.

Companies that raise prices without consulting the government have been put on a blacklist while those that have cooperated with the government to keep price rises down are put on a whitelist.

However, Barkat said that the lists were not working as intended and that to help consumers make informed choices the implementation of the new "Black Sticker Law" would help consumers to decide which company's products to buy. Companies on the blacklist would have these stickers affixed to their products.

"The new law will require putting black stickers on products whose prices rose during wartime. The companies on the blacklist hurt the Israeli public at a difficult time of war when the entire nation acts in solidarity and only these companies are detached," Barkat said in a press release.

Earlier on Thursday, Barkat announced that he was moving Israeli food company Strauss from the whitelist to the blacklist due to a series of price rises of up to 25% it implemented at the beginning of January.

משרד הכלכלה מציג: הרשתות שהעלו מחירים מאז 7 באוקטובר, ואלו שלא@DanaYarkechy pic.twitter.com/Cc2nWOyD3j

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 29, 2024

Strauss responded by announcing they would cancel or moderate their price rises and in return, they would be transferred to the whitelist.

Barkat had managed to sign up several large retailers to his program including Shufersel, Victory, and Rami Levy according to N12. He got an agreement from them to help prevent food price rises until December 2024.

Strauss's size in the food market worried several of the retailers who felt that marking Strauss's products could harm them financially, N12 reported that it was this pressure that led to an agreement between Strauss and the government to moderate price rises.

Boycott Osem

After butting heads with Strauss, Barkat decided to take on the next Israeli food giant Osem, and called on the Israeli public to boycott them for refusing to cooperate with the government over price rises.

לצערי, חברת אסם מעדיפה להיות ברשימה השחורה. היא מאמינה שהיא תעלה מחירים במלחמה ואתם תשכחו לה את זה. זה לא מפתיע כי רובכם לא יודעים שאסם היא כבר לא חברה ישראלית. אסור לאסם להעלות מחירים במלחמה. זו שבירת הסולידריות הישראלית. אחיי הישראלים - זה בידיים שלכם לעצור את זה. אל תקנו אסם!… pic.twitter.com/gDnLjkaMet

— ניר ברקת (@NirBarkat) February 29, 2024

Barkat said on X, "Unfortunately, Osem prefers to be on the blacklist. It believes that it will raise prices in the war and you [the consumer] will forget it. This is unsurprising because most of you do not know that Osem is no longer an Israeli company. Osem is forbidden to raise prices in war. This is the breaking of Israeli solidarity. My fellow Israelis - it is in your hands to stop it. Don't buy Osem! I will continue to fight as much as I can for you."