For every five shekels spent on holiday food, one goes to the trash
The value of food waste during the Tishrei holidays has reached 2.5 billion shekels, a sharp increase from previous years despite stable waste volumes. Drought and rising prices make every discarded kilogram more costly than ever.
Shopping carts are filling up ahead of the holidays, but a significant portion of their contents will not reach the plate. An average Israeli family is expected to spend about 4,100 shekels on food during the Tishrei holiday period, and about 850 shekels of that — more than a fifth — will go to waste.
In total, about 260,000 tons of food worth approximately 2.5 billion shekels are expected to be lost during the holidays, according to data published by Leket Israel and the consulting firm BDO. The loss does not occur only in the home kitchen; it accumulates throughout all stages of the chain, from agricultural production through marketing and distribution to consumption.
A comparison with Leket Israel and BDO data from previous years reveals a clear trend: the amount of food thrown away during the holidays has remained stable, around 250–260 thousand tons, but its monetary value has soared. In 2023, the value of food lost during the Tishrei holidays was estimated at 1.3 billion shekels, in 2025 it rose to 1.4 billion, and this year it jumped to 2.5 billion, an increase of about 79% within a year.
The jump is also felt at the household level. In 2023, an average family spent 3,400 shekels on food during the holidays and threw away 530 shekels worth. Last year, spending climbed to 3,900 shekels and waste to 600 shekels. This year, spending reached 4,100 shekels, and the food thrown away is worth 850 shekels, an increase of about 42%.
Water resource loss
Food that is thrown away does not only lead to financial loss. According to Leket Israel, about 41 million cubic meters of water invested in growing and producing the food that will be lost are expected to be wasted during the holiday period alone, an amount equivalent to about 12,500 Olympic swimming pools. The figure takes on acute significance against the backdrop of the situation in agriculture: during 2025, extreme heat, fluctuations in precipitation, and water restrictions were recorded, and the consequences of the drought are also felt this year.
During the Tishrei holiday period, the number of meals increases, more Israelis host and are hosted, and consumption rises accordingly. The desire to ensure that nothing is missing from the table leads to the purchase of quantities that exceed what is required, and eventually a significant portion of the food remains unused.
"There is an absurdity here that is hard to ignore. Families feel the cost of living in the supermarket, farmers are dealing with drought and water shortages, and at the same time, food worth billions of shekels is going to waste. Behind this food are water, land, energy, and labor that were invested in vain. The joy of the holiday is not measured by the amount of food left on the table, and certainly not by the amounts thrown into the trash," said Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel.
