Peter Kohn
IS there enough Osem soup in your life? Feel like a nosh on
some Beigel & Beigel snack foods? When was the last time you had a drop of
Carmel wine?
The Israel Trade Commission in Sydney has launched a website
to make it easier for the Jewish community to buy more Israeli foodstuffs. It
hopes the site will also spur retailers into stocking more Israeli products. To
whet your appetite, the website details food stores in major cities and the
Israeli products they stock.
“The idea for this website came from the local Jewish
community,” said Itamar Dar, Israel Trade Commissioner to Australia. “We have
been overwhelmed at the community’s desire to buy Israeli products
and support Israel during this time of crisis.
This website will help them to do that.”
The website also asks people to report new products and
shops to the trade commission, as well as for retailers and importers to join
the program. As part of the campaign, the commission has written to Australia’s
main Jewish community organisations to urge them to inform their members about
the site. Initially the campaign will only
include shops in
predominantly Jewish areas but the commission hopes the list of shops on
the website will grow to include outlets from all around Australia.
Dar told the AIN the campaign follows a
similar one that
was launched in the US two months ago and comes in response to a rise in
consumer demand for Israeli products. He said the food drive was not in
response to any Arab boycott campaigns.
“Boycotts are not a major problem anymore,” he said. Only six
per cent of Israel’s prepared foodstuffs are
destined for its own markets, the rest going into exports, mainly to the US “and
UK. The website is at www.israeltrade.org.au/israelfood