NOVANEWS
Tesco shelves banning Israeli products
“Like all major UK retailers we sell some products that are sourced from Israel,” he said.
“We do this in line with the government position on trade with Israel, and we mark all products clearly with the country of origin so customers can make informed choices about what to buy.”
The spokesman said Tesco had “no plans to change our sourcing arrangements, which are in line with other retailers and in accordance with the Government’s position.”
Explaining the background to its decision, Tesco confirmed it had received questions from customers about products from Israel or the West Bank.
“To make sure we answered their questions with the most accurate and up to date information, we contacted suppliers to double-check our own information, particularly for branded products,” the chain said.
As to whether just the suppliers of kosher products had been approached or whether the company had sought similar information from other suppliers, the spokesman told the Postthat while it had not asked all its suppliers, many had been requested to indicate the country of origin of their products.
He declined to name any examples of those approached.
2013’s figures for the Tesco chain of 2,500 stores showed a £3.3 billion profit.