Where will you find the cheapest Rosh Hashanah shopping basket?

We are now in the midst of the most significant Rosh Hashanah shopping week, marking one of the most critical periods of the year for supermarket chains. Rosh Hashanah will arrive this year on Friday evening, September 11, serving as the kickoff for the autumn holiday season. For many families, the meaning is not just a single holiday meal, but a complete restocking of the pantry, refrigerator, and household cabinets ahead of weeks in which they host more, cook more, and spend more time at home.

Until now, foot traffic in the chains did not necessarily meet retailers' expectations. The promotions are already on the shelves, advertisements are on social networks and websites, and the food chains are each trying in their own way to draw us in, but a large portion of the significant purchases lies ahead. In the final week before the holiday, the picture can change rapidly: Heavier crowds, fuller carts, longer lines at the registers, and perhaps another round of sales designed to draw us into a specific branch.

However, precisely as competition intensifies, consumers should exercise greater caution.

A major sale on a single item does not tell us what the entire cart will cost. A red sign at the store entrance can be very appealing, but we pay the bill at the register for dozens of other products. Sometimes, specifically during the holiday season, when our attention is focused on the most prominent sales, other items become more expensive, or a promotion that was more generous a week ago becomes less worthwhile.

Therefore, in the big holiday survey by the Institute for Retail Research in Israel, we sought this time to step back from single items and ask a broader question: How much does it actually cost to stock a home for the holidays?

The check includes 150 products found in the shopping basket of an average Israeli household, designed to represent a wide variety of needs: Dairy products, staples and cooking goods, fruits and vegetables, beverages, coffee and tea, spreads and sauces, canned goods, breakfast cereals, baked goods and snacks, cleaning products, laundry and home care supplies, and additional items.

The comparison was conducted across 20 food chains from various sectors, including general chains, chains catering to the haredi sector, and non-kosher chains. This is an important distinction, because the Israeli consumer is not a single, uniform market. Kashrut, variety, branch location, operating hours, the shopping experience, and family habits can influence decisions no less than price.

The examined basket does not include fresh or frozen poultry, beef, lamb, and fish. We will examine those separately. The reason for this is not technical. In that market, there are essential differences in kashrut, origin, freshness, butchering cut, and quality that can make a simple comparison of price per kilogram misleading.

The price of the cheapest basket found in the check stands at NIS 1,632.61. The highest basket price reached NIS 2,209.79.

This represents a gap of NIS 577.18, or roughly 35%.

This is no longer a gap that can be dismissed as "a few shekels here and a few shekels there." For a family stocking its home for the holiday, it amounts to more than NIS 570 on the exact same shopping list.

In the overall rankings, Rami Levy came in first with a basket of NIS 1,632.61, followed by Osher Ad at NIS 1,652.51. At the other end of the table were Freshmarket at NIS 2,065.46, KingStore at NIS 2,129.91, and Tiv Taam at NIS 2,209.79.

There is no crowning of a single chain here, nor is there a quality rating. This is a price snapshot accurate for the examined basket at the time of the check. A chain can be more expensive for this specific basket and still offer consumers other advantages they are willing to pay for: Proximity to home, service, operating hours, variety, parking, unique products, or the shopping experience.

And that is precisely where price becomes a question of value.

What is no less interesting than the gap between the cheapest and most expensive ends is the density at the top. Less than NIS 20 separate the Rami Levy basket from the Osher Ad basket. The gap between Rami Levy and Netto Hisachon is less than NIS 28.

On a basket of more than NIS 1,600, that is a very small gap.

This picture demonstrates just how dynamic the struggle during the holiday season can be. A price change on a few products, the introduction of a new sale, or the cancellation of an existing promotion can change a chain's position on the table within a short time.

The struggle is also particularly prominent in chains catering to the haredi public. In the pre-holiday period, this is an audience that buys in significant volumes, sometimes for very large families, making price sensitivity high. On the other hand, within this market, there are also differences in levels of kashrut certification, which can affect the price of a product and the comparison between chains.

This is one of the reasons why general rankings should be read carefully and not automatically turned into a definitive conclusion for every individual consumer.

One of the interesting insights in the survey is that the largest expenditure is not necessarily hidden in the products we are accustomed to discussing. Dairy products, cheeses, and substitutes constitute an average of about 14.6% of the basket cost. Cleaning, laundry, and home care products make up about 13.9%. Staples, cooking, and baking products add another 12.4%. These three categories alone account for about 41% of the average basket cost.

In other words, a family that devotes all its energy to comparing oil, sugar, pasta, or a discounted vegetable might miss a very significant portion of the total bill.

This is one of the basic tricks in the retail world: We remember the prices of a small number of prominent products. The chains know this well. They do not have to be the cheapest on every shelf to create a good price perception for us.

The breakdown by category illustrates this well. In dairy products, cheeses, and substitutes, Carrefour Hyper was found to have the lowest category basket at NIS 245. Rami Levy stood at NIS 257.50, and Osher Ad at NIS 258.10.

By contrast, in staples, cooking, and baking products, Rami Levy presented the lowest price at NIS 187.08. Osher Ad stood at NIS 194.40, and Netto Hisachon at NIS 199.77.

The price gap within this category is particularly significant: Between NIS 187.08 at one end and NIS 295.68 at the other.

In cleaning, laundry, and home care products, Netto Hisachon was lowest at NIS 240.77, Zol Vebegadol at NIS 241.37, and Yesh Chesed at NIS 241.47.

In spreads and sauces, Osher Ad came in at NIS 100.70, ahead of Yesh Chesed at NIS 101.50 and Rami Levy at NIS 102.40.

In breakfast cereals and cornflakes, a basket of NIS 112.50 was found at Rami Levy, NIS 114.70 at Osher Ad, and NIS 122.70 at Yohananof.

The meaning is simple: Someone entering a supermarket with a specific shopping list may get a completely different result from a family buying a different combination of products.

The concept of the "cheapest chain" is therefore a limited concept. There is a price for the general basket, and there is a price for our personal basket.

Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, it is difficult to ignore the pomegranate. In the check, we found a price of NIS 6.90 per kilogram at Rami Levy, Yohananof, Freshmarket, and Maayan 2000.

At Osher Ad, Shuk Hayir, Yesh Chesed, Netto Hisachon, and Maasani Hashuk, the price found was NIS 7.90. At Victory, it was NIS 9.90, and in some chains the price reached NIS 12.90. At Zol Vebegadol, a price of NIS 19.90 per kilogram was found. This is a very large gap, but here too, one must remember that this is fresh agricultural produce. Fruit size, variety, appearance, and quality can vary. Therefore, this is a price indication, not a quality comparison.

The final week before a holiday is precisely the week when regular consumer habits tend to break down. We are in a hurry. We are hosting. We remember what we forgot. We go back to the supermarket. We put items in the cart "just in case." We buy two units because the third is discounted, even when we have not planned to buy a single one.

The food chain does not need to convince us to buy its entire basket. It is enough for them to get us through the door. From there, the real work of the sales floor begins: Large displays, end-cap items, holiday gift sets, bulk promotions, signage, and prices that create a sense of opportunity. The danger is not in the promotion itself. A good sale is an excellent consumer tool. The danger is when the promotion replaces discretion.

One must also check what happened to the prices surrounding the promotional item. A product advertised at a deep discount does not indicate that the entire category is cheap. Sometimes a consumer who arrives for an attractive item completes the rest of the purchase at higher prices without checking them.

If there is one rule that is important to take from this survey for the holiday, it is very simple: Arrive with a list. Not a list written while walking through the supermarket, but a list built at home. What is truly missing from the pantry? How many meals are planned? How many people will we host? What is already in the freezer? How many bottles, packages, and cleaning supplies are actually needed?

The list has an additional role: It protects us from impulse buying. Consumers are not supposed to abstain from sales, but rather from the idea that every sale is an opportunity that must be utilized. If we did not plan to buy the product, we may not have saved money even at a 50% discount. We simply spent less on something we had no intention of buying.

Bulk sales also require simple math. Two units for NIS 20 are no cheaper than one unit for NIS 11 if we only need one.

A gap of NIS 577 is large. But not every family will drive to another city, stand in a long line, and split purchases among four chains to save the full amount.

Time also has a price.

Gas does as well.

So does convenience.

And so does the shopping experience.

Different consumers have different priorities.

The conclusion is not that we should all do our shopping at the same chain. The conclusion is that we need to know how much we are paying for our choice.

Someone who chooses a specific chain because it is close to home, convenient, or offers products they like is making a completely legitimate decision. The difference is between a conscious choice and paying more without knowing that an alternative exists.

This week, shopping carts are filling up, lines are growing longer, promotions are sharpening, and the price war is stepping up a notch as we approach the holiday.

Yet amid all this noise, it is worth remembering that the chains are managing their war, and we need to manage our budget.

The NIS 577 gap we found does not mean that one chain is "good" and another is "bad." It tells how diverse the market is, and how much the choice of where we fill our cart can impact the final bill.

Real savings do not begin at the sale sign in the supermarket. They begin at home, with the list, with planning, and with our ability to say even to an attractive deal: No thank you, I do not need it.

The survey was conducted by the Institute for Retail Research in Israel using data from the Pricez website, accurate as of September 3, 2026. The check includes 150 products across 20 food chains and refers to common prices in the chains, excluding club discounts and unusual conditions. The basket includes a variety of high-frequency products.