The words "Made in China" can no longer be seen only on electrical appliances in Israel,
but also on packages of frozen vegetables in local supermarkets. In the past three months, Israel has been importing frozen corn, peas and beans from the East Asian republic.
At this stage, they are being sold in Shufersal's Yesh chain and in some private stores and food chains, some under the chain's private label and some under the brand "Bikurei Sadeh." Only a close examination of the back side of the package reveals the fact that the vegetables were grown in China and not in Israel.
In response, the Israeli growers have demanded that the State raise the tax on the import of processed vegetables from China, claiming that the Chinese were selling the frozen vegetables to the importer for a price lower than the cost of growing them in Israel.
We checked a package of frozen Chinese vegetables in several chains, and the price difference was significant. For example, imported green peas of the "Bikurei Sadeh" brand, in a package of 800 grams, costs NIS 9.99 (about $2.65) in the Yesh chain. A similar Sunfrost product, on the other hand, costs NIS 15.90 ($4.20), and a similar Pri Galil product costs NIS 11.49 ($3).
A Shufersal source admitted that the chain has received vegetables from China. "At this stage, we have yet to make a decision, as the chain is unsatisfied yet with the quality of the Chinese vegetables, and they are only sold in Yesh," he said. "I'm not saying it won't happen in the future."
Importing frozen vegetables is a threat on the local growers and the canned vegetables industry. Yedioth Ahronoth's economic supplement, Mamon, learned that Zvi Alon, head of the Plants Council, met recently with the Agriculture Ministry's foreign trade assistant director-general to discuss the growers' demand. The Agriculture Ministry confirmed that the matter was being looked into and that the conclusions would be submitted to the agriculture ministry in the coming weeks.
Alon told Mamon, "This is a blow to one of the main nerves of Israeli agriculture. We are concerned over the import of corn, beans and peas from China. These are vegetables being grown in large areas in the periphery, and this may hurt growers and vegetable processing factories, which – like Vita Pri Galil, Milotal and Sunfrost – operate in development towns as well.
"Israel protects the import of processes agricultural produce and imposes a tax on imports from China, but the Chinese are selling the product to the importer for such a cheap price, that even with the added tax its price is cheap compared to the local product, although the quality cannot be compared."
According to Alon, "It would be a disaster for the Israeli agriculture if they stop growing vegetables here and fields will be deserted, not to mention the dependency on food imports and the damage that would be caused to the growers and the an industry employing hundreds of workers."
Pini Maaram of Kibbutz Einat, head of the national Field Crops Growers Association, told Mamon: "We are seeing results on the ground. The orders for corn have fallen by 30%. If this goes on, we will stop growing and the Israeli consumer will become dependent on the Chinese vegetables."
Iris Lipshitz-Klieger contributed to this report
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