Despite reports to the contrary, major supermarket chains and the Economy Ministry have said that there is no shortage of matzah for the Passover holiday and that they do not expect one.
A representative for the Rami Levi chain said on Monday that there was shortage in its stores and that its warehouses were well stocked.
A spokesperson for Shufersal, the largest supermarket chain in Israel, said that “one or two” of its stores had experienced a brief shortage due to “hysteria buying” but that the chain had plenty of stock and did not expect any shortage at all.
Matzah is eaten during the Passover holiday instead of bread, which Jewish law prohibits for the seven days of the festival, and concerns have been raised that there would be insufficient supply given the public health crisis.
The Economy Ministry said on Monday however that matzah production facilities were well prepared for any increase in demand and that they had sufficient raw ingredients to do meet any spike.
Officials in the ministry have been tracking the ongoing readiness of the food industry to produce food on a daily basis since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, and have included in that the availability of matzah.
The ministry said that matzah production factories have reported an increase in demand for matzah of about 15 percent compared to last year, but said that the factories could meet this level and that they had already begun to increase production.
“The Administration for Industry in the Economy and Industry Ministry is in direct and daily contact with Israeli industry in order to examine whether or not to there might be a shortage of raw ingredients, a problem in the supply chain, or difficulties in production in order to make decisions to ameliorate problems if need be,” the ministry stated.