A request for a class action in the amount of approximately NIS 45 million was submitted today to the district court in Lod, against Rami Levy, for the deception regarding the honey imported from Greece. On the product packaging it is written that it is 100% honey, in practice a laboratory test revealed that it is honey to which a sweetener called psicose-d has been added.
Rami Levy removed the competitors "Yad Mordechai" from the shelves
The plaintiffs claim that Rami Levy removed the main Israeli competitor "Yad Mordechai" from the shelves, and this at the peak of the honey demand period, thus possibly violating the competition laws. The lawsuit was filed by attorney Dr. Guy Carmi, Kafir Kleinman and Nofer Teflitz from the office of Dr. Guy Carmi lawyers.
Made in Greece
This is honey produced in Greece, which Rami Levy imported as part of winning (along with other companies) a sort of tender of the Ministry of Agriculture, for the importation of honey with exemption from customs duties worth millions of shekels (honey is a controlled product, and cannot be imported without a lawful permit).
Statement of Claim
According to the lawsuit: "As part of the competitive process, the winners received an exemption from customs duties worth millions of NIS, conditional on certain conditions, including price - conditions that Rami Levy did not meet. It will be clarified that this is a significant tax benefit, which comes from the collective pocket of the taxpayer. This is because today the duty rate on honey is 16.30 NIS per kg to protect the local beekeepers.
The discovery resulted from a laboratory test abroad
Continuation of the lawsuit: "The discovery that the honey was substandard resulted from a laboratory test conducted abroad by the Honey Council. The test was carried out after the Honey Council suspected that it was fake honey, given its low price compared to global honey prices. According to the lawsuit, the "red light" that turned on at The Honey Council should also have been lit by Rami Levy, a shrewd businessman, owner of a sophisticated public company.
Moreover, it seems that the Rami Levy chain did not take care to meet the conditions required by virtue of its winning the competitive procedure to be exempt from heavy tariffs on honey. These things are reflected, among other things, in the sale of the honey at a price higher than the price to which it committed, and in the non-observance of additional limitations established in the procedure (including limiting the number of products sold to each customer).''
The statement of claim: Rami Levy must be made to give judgment for his conduct and actions
Rami Levy must be made to give judgment for his conduct and actions. Starting with consumer deception in the sale and marketing of honey that apparently contains only honey, while in reality it is not; Continue to exploit monopolistic power by pushing a major competitor off the shelves during peak consumption periods, in order to increase profits for the honey and denying the freedom of choice to its customers; Through beeping the law and the conditions of the tender process in which he took part and within the framework of which he enjoys tax benefits worth many millions of NIS - and all on the back of the represented group on whose behalf this request is being petitioned.
Honey extracted from jujube flowers naturally contains psychosis.
How did the plaintiffs check that the sweetener was indeed added?
As we already know, the essence of honey is sugar. What matters where it comes from?
95% honey at half the price is better than 100% honey at double the price.
95% at half price, it's already a consideration of the consumer, but there must be truth in the statement about the content and I assume that's what the claim is about.
It is also true that Rami Levy storms off the shelves of competitors and the immediate reasoning is that this is to protect us, the consumers, from the cost of living - let me laugh.
What's more, it's clear that the local manufacturers are harassing us, and I have no pity in my heart that their sales have been affected.
Funny that the lawsuit talks about monopolistic power - and comes from the predatory monopoly of Yad Mordechai - Strauss on the honey in the networks.
The very tender itself was created from the beginning due to the failure of the monopoly in the field of Yad Mordechai and the Israeli consumer trader due to draconian import barriers