Cofix Effect: Two Years Running

Large capuchino @ Montifiori (the old Cafe Cafe) Ibn Gvirol & Arlozorov, 15 NIS

I have to admit that when Cofix [HE] opened over two years ago, my intuition was off. Tel Aviv was full of buzz on how the coffee prices will go down and the great socialist ideal of "fair prices" for this daily commodity will start a consumer revolution. Fast forward two years and nothing doin'! NADA, KLOOM (as they say in the shook) - shum davar... OK, essentially, that little Cofix shot across the bow of Arcafe, Greg's, Ilan's, and a few other small coffee chains has not moved the market one little bit.

The small coffee houses, mostly independent, mostly in close proximity to a Cofix locations, have reduced the prices a little. But overall, this supposedly "consumer revolution" (uprising, cottage protest) and a few other events, have not worked at all.What the large suppliers (Tnuva, Straus) and supermarket chains have said seem to be true. The Israeli market, standard of living and competitive forces are all contributing to relative high prices. While the papers and TV reporting keep on comparing prices of a cup of coffee (or a container of cottage cheese) with almost every market around the world (Greece, UK and Italy, as well as New York and Hong Kong), there are not many suppliers and retailers who are joining the low price revolution. Actually, some suppliers and retailers (Mega supermarkets lately) are not doing well and are on the verge of closing some locations. Retailers are at the most precarious situation. The Cafe Cafe chain has closed two locations in Tel Aviv and one (Dizengof center) has been turned from a regular cafe-restaurant to a counter surrounded by a few tables (in the middle of the basement floor of the mall). So, while there are some who think of ways to reduce prices and offer great deals to consumers, others have not figured it out yet.