58% of cottage cheese eaters reduced consumption or stopped buying it altogether, according to a "Globes" survey conducted by the Smith Institute. 42% of respondents said they had not changed their cottage cheese habits. The results suggest that the cottage cheese boycott, launched in response to a series of "Globes" articles on the high cost of food products in Israel, is a success.
37% of respondents said that the government was mainly responsible for the rise in prices for dairy products , and 30% said that the three main dairy producers - Tnuva Food Industries Ltd., Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) and Tara Dairy - were responsible. 15% blamed the large retailers
After staying silent during the first days of the boycott's launch, the food companies launched a media campaign in which they blamed whoever they could for the situation. In the meantime, the government's helplessness in the face of rising prices was also exposed, as well large retailers' abetting of the price rises.
The producers' effort to transfer blame did not succeed. Only 3% of respondents said that dairy farmers were responsible for the higher prices, and 6% said that consumers were responsible. 9% had no opinion.
Tnuva, Israel's largest food company, has become synonymous with the boycott, as it dominates the dairy market in general and the cottage cheese market in particular. However, only 32% of the public fully or partly knows who owns the company. 20% of respondents said that Tnuva was owned by a foreign private equity fund, and 8% of respondents knew that the fund is Apax Partners. 12% of respondents said Tnuva was owned by Zehavit Cohen, the CEO of Apax Israel, and Tnuva chairwoman.
The survey confirmed the market's identification of Zehavit Cohen with Tnuva, reflected in the thousands of talkbacks that directly criticize her.
11% of respondents said that Tnuva was owned by kibbutzim and moshavim, which in fact own just 23% of the company.
Unexpectedly, 13% of respondents said that Tnuva was owned by Ofra Strauss - the chairwoman of its main rival, Strauss. It could be that the boycott's focus on cottage cheese, combined with the fact that Ofra Strauss was the first - and only - dairy executive to openly speak about the boycott resulted in her misidentification with Tnuva.
7% of respondents said that the government owned Tnuva and 3% said that they did not know who owned the company.
The survey included 500 persons. The sampling error is 4.5%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 30, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011