Misplaced Pages

Carmel Agrexco

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Anachronist (talk | contribs) at 18:05, 31 March 2010 (rm improper cat - company is in Tel Aviv). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:05, 31 March 2010 by Anachronist (talk | contribs) (rm improper cat - company is in Tel Aviv)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Carmel Agrexco
Company typePartnership: Israeli government (50%), the Production and Marketing Boards (25%) and the Tnuva cooperative (25%)
IndustryExporters of agricultural produce
Founded1956
HeadquartersTel Aviv, Israel
Key peopleYaacov Tsur, Chairman of the Board
Shlomo Tirosh, Managing Director
ProductsVegetables, Flowers, Fruits, Plants
RevenueIncrease €560 million (2006)
Number of employees500 employees in Israel and overseas (2006)
Websitewww.agrexco.co.il

Carmel Agrexco (or in short Agrexco), established in 1956, is Israel’s largest exporter of agricultural produce, with the European Union one of its major markets. The word "Carmel" in the company's name stands for the internationally recognized brand name used by Agrexco for fresh produce exports from Israel.

Agrexco is a state-owned company, with 50% of its stock held by the State of Israel, 25% by the Israeli Production and Marketing Boards, and 25% by Tnuva. In August 2008, the Israeli government approved a privatization program for Agrexco, stipulating that at least 51% of Agrexco's stock should be tendered to private investors. This decision follows in the wake of the recently completed transformation of Tnuva from a cooperative owned by Israeli farmers (kibbutzim and moshavim) to a private company owned by Apax Partners.

In 2007, Agrexco marketed 435,000 tons of fresh agricultural produce with a turnover of €653 million. This consisted mainly of vegetables (47%), cut flowers (19%), and fruits (14%). In addition to exporting the produce of Israeli farmers inside the Green Line and in West Bank settlements, Agrexco is the main export channel to Europe for Palestinian fresh produce from Gaza (carnations, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, vine tomatoes), which is marketed under the Coral brand name (as distinct from the Carmel brand name used by Agrexco to market Israeli produce).

Agrexco has a global network of marketing branches operating in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rotterdam, New York, Zurich, Vienna, Madrid, and Milan. Special sales offices in Israel deal with countries where Agrexco does not have representative offices, such as Eastern Europe, the Far and Near East. Carmel Agrexco's main UK depot is in Swallowfield Way, Hayes, Middlesex.

Protests in the UK

This section may require cleanup to meet Misplaced Pages's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can. (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 2006 the British anti-poverty charity War on Want reported that in addition to being the largest exporter of Israeli produce, Agrexco is also the leading exporter of produce from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories.

There have been various protests at Carmel Agrexco’s depot in Middlesex. On 5 July 2007, ten activists entered Carmel Agrexco depot in Hayes Middlesex. The Israeli flag that usually flies was replaced with a Palestinian flag and the black-and-red flag of anarcho-syndicalism took the place of the Union Flag. The activists handed leaflets to the workers to explain the reasons for their actions. Two locked themselves to equipment with D locks. They asked to speak to workers about Carmel Agrexco’s support for ethnic cleansing and war crimes in Palestine, but were opposed.

Generally no arrests are made and even when they are no charges are brought. However the protesters suggest that Carmel Agrexco asked the police not to arrest or prosecute, because the protesters have declared that they will seek to present a defence that they are justified in using these types of tactics against Carmel Agrexco, which they claim violates international law by supporting settlements and engaging in persecution of Palestinian workers.

On 18 August 2007 activists from the Camp for Climate Action entered Carmel Agrexco's UK warehouse. The Israeli flag was taken down and protesters locked themselves to gates. The UK Press Association quoted Amos Orr, the general manager: “A lot of them were drunk. They broke doors, spread papers everywhere and they were very aggressive. They were singing about Hamas.” The activists however denied being drunk and strenuously denied "singing about Hamas", which they claimed were an attempt to smear campaigners. The activists claimed their motives were to highlight the damaging effects of air freighting of food and to show support for Palestinians who suffer under Israeli Occupation, and against the importation of produce from settlements in the occupied West Bank.

On 21 June 2008 activists occupied and shut down Carmel Agrexco's HQ and UK freight warehouse for over six hours, in protest of Carmel Agrexco being Israel's largest agricultural exporter from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

See also

References

  1. Carmel: Agrexco's brand name. Retrieved on 24 June 2009
  2. ^ "Agrexco". Dun's 100. Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 2008-09-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. Israel Export Institute, press release on privatization of Agrexco, 1 September 2008 Template:He icon
  4. Fresh produce exports from Gaza to EU. Retrieved on 2008-09-24.
  5. Coral brand name for Palestinian produce exports. Retrieved on 24 June 2009
  6. Agrexco's global marketing. Retrieved on 2008-09-24.
  7. Profiting from the Occupation, War on Want
  8. "Fortress Carmel Agrexco breached by Peace Activists". Indymedia. Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. "Protesters occupy UK warehouse of Israeli exporter". tehran times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Carmel Agrexco's Depot Shut Down in Commemoration of the Nakba
  11. "UK Indymedia - 40 Climate camp Activists occupy Carmel Agrexco". Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  12. "Heathrow protest plan to block runway - Times Online". London. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  13. "Activists Deny Smear by General Manager of Carmel Agrexco". indymedia. Retrieved 2007-08-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

€

Categories: