Product ideas from Israel

For some guests the most important buzzword was “Near Sourcing”. As a representative of one of the DIY companies operating in Turkey, for example said, China is no longer as attractive as in the past. As awareness for the cost of logistics has increased, it is now necessary to work harder on tapping into the regional markets. In addition, an event organised by the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute offered the opportunity for representatives from the international DIY operators to visit Israel and to establish contact with the local suppliers on their own doorstep.
All the guests who took part in the seminar and trade fair in Tel Aviv were convinced that the country has enormous potential. Among the guests present were representatives from Union DIY and Metrika from Russia, Kingfisher, Koçtas and Tekzen from Turkey, the HRG-Home Retail Group from Great Britain, Bricolife from Italy, National Hardware+United Hardware from Ireland as well as representatives from Edra. “A lot of the companies in Israel have the strength to become big players,” said Ofer Sachs, CEO of the Israel Export Institute. Caroline Nave from the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute, who organised the event, is also convinced. “With the right partners we could considerably increase sales in the DIY area, the capacity is available”. Nave emphasised during her lecture to the international guests that the strengths were particularly in the cutting-edge production plants and the flexibility of the companies. Furthermore a lot of products excel with innovative design and sustainable concepts. “Above all, Israel’s plastics processing industry is the world leader,” said Nave. Israel is number one in the world for spending on research and development. At the moment (as of 2012) 3.9 per cent of the gross domestic product is invested in R&D. As a comparison: in Germany it was only 2.9 per cent for the same year.

The companies that presented their products to the interested buyers also had outstanding product ideas to show. These covered areas such as garden, household, plumbing but also painting accessories, paint and hardware. Something completely original was a product from ShockTape which keeps pigeons and other birds away from…