Israeli suppliers de-listed by The Co-operative Group have said they have had no communication from the retailer and some of them do not even supply the group.
The Co-operative said earlier this week that it had ceased trading relationships with four major Israeli exporters known to be sourcing from illegal Israeli settlements.
The move comes following sustained lobbying from Palestinian human rights campaigners, several of whom are Co-op members.
The Co-op said its decision will affect Agrexco, Arava Export Growers, Adafresh and Mehadrin, but when freshinfo spoke to some of those companies, there was clearly confusion.
Malou Even, vice-president of business development and global sales at Arava told freshinfo: “We didn’t sell any produce to The Co-operative and we have not encountered any problem.” However, a spokeswoman for the retailer said Arava was “a secondary supplier”.
Dudi Vaknine, general manager of Agrexco in the UK was similarly surprised. He told fresinfo: “We are sad about this…We are not supplying directly to them [the Co-operative]. We have had no communication with the Co-operative about this. This is a political issue and they are free to make whatever decision they want, but I hope they know that we are the new Agrexco now.”
Mehadrin did not wish to comment.
The Co-op said in a further statement that it has not taken any produce from the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories since 2009, but now is extending its policy. The statement said the extension will “cover engagement with any produce suppliers known to be sourcing from the Israeli settlements, where there is broad international consensus that the settlements are illegal”.
The amount of business lost by the Israeli suppliers named by The Co-op is small: some £350,000 worth of sales annually.
