Ynet is reporting that Rami Levi, the supermarket magnate, has decided to forgo the Rabbanut kashrut in his "Rami Levi BaShchuna" and Super Coffix" chains of stores.
Seemignly, this will not affect, for now, the larger Rami Levi supermarkets.
According to the report, Rami Levi is doing this to cut costs. The Rami Levi BaShchuna shops are smaller shops, not full supermarkets, and they do not have their own internal bakery sections. Being that the products sold in the shop are packaged goods, each with its own label and hechsher, there really is no reason to pay the Rabbanut to certify the store as kosher.
The 6 branches of Rami levi BaShchuna have already implemented this change and removed the |Rabbanut, as have some of the branches of Super Coffix. Soon the remaining 30+ branches of Super Coffix follow suit. The Rami Levi full supermarkets will keep the Rabbanut certification.
The statement put out by Rami Levi's spokesperson said that "we respect the Rabbanut and do not want to get into any conflict with the Rabbanut and hope to soon come to an agreement with them".
The Rabbanut has been sending out letters saying these stores are no longer under any kashrut supervision (only the Rabbanut is allowed to provide actual kashrut supervision, and without the Rabbanut no other agency is allowed to say they are kosher).
The Rabbanut has sent a warnign letter to the Rosh HaAyin branch for using the word kosher wthout the Rabbanut certification, and if they continue to do so they will be slapped with a 1000-2000nis fine. The rabbi of the chain is preparing notices explaining the changes to be posted in the shops and will also explain the fresh produce as all being supervised (not using the word kosher) - explaining that all vegetables come form the central logistics warehouse in Modiin where they are all certified kosher by the local Rabbanut there along with the additional Badatz certification, and truma and maaser is separated carefully mehadrin min hamehadrin. Packaged goods are all certified under the responsibility of the gaency on the packaging. The notice will conclude saying that the notice is not a kashrut certification of the Rabbanut, as specified by law.
Rami Levi explained that the larger stores need the hechsher because of the butcher station, a cheese station, and the baked goods section, but the smaller shops don't have that and have no need for the expensive certification which is already covered anyway by the certifications on the packaged goods and the certification already on the vegetables. All it does, he says, is make everything more expensive, having to pay for the teuda and to pay a mashgiach's salary.
Supposedly Coffix will soon follow suit as well, since nothing is made on site but all comes from the factory in Yavne which is certified by the Rabbanut and the Badatz Beit Yosef.
The problem with this is that certification generally ends as soon as the certified item leaves the premises and is not sealed with the hechsher. People can choose to do what they want about buying such an item that is open (like vegetables or pastries in Coffix), but the certifying agency generally will say that their hechsher ends as soon as the item is taken out the door without continued supervision.
I suspect that in more "mehadrin locations", they might keep the local hechsher because people tend to understand that and still want the hechsher. In more generic places, people will be fine with saying the rabbanut already certified it and nothing changed, so we don't care.
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