Posted on 11/06/2013 4:49:05 PM PST by nickcarraway
The kosher food industry is the subject of much discussion in international business communities.
Kosher no longer means sweet Malaga wine and gefilte fish on Passover or the kosher butcher delivering meat wrapped in waxed paper to be salted and koshered at home. Today, kosher is a multi-billion dollar world industry spanning the globe with hundreds of thousands of products produced in places such as China, Thailand and Korea and found in special food sections in all parts of the world and in huge store chains such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, Jewel, Shop-rite, Pathmark, Albertsons and Wynn Dixie.
Worldwide food conglomerates such as Nestle, Kraft, Unilever, Heinz, Pepsico and Coca Cola have invested hundreds of millions in acquiring kosher food companies such as Osem and Telma Foods and have invested many more millions in making their brands kosher. It is no surprise that as the premier kosher food exposition in the United States, Kosherfest is attended by executives and buyers from the major food stores, chains and distributors in the world.
Kosherfest 2013 was the largest and busiest Kosherfest in history. Located at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey from October 29-30, Kosherfest included hundreds of displays of kosher products from all over the world with almost unlimited sampling of a vast array of foods including: dairy products and cheeses, meats and poultry, fish and fish products, soups, condiments, sauces, desserts, wines and liqueurs, side dishes, produce, drink products and literally anything the kosher mind can conjure up. Both year round products and Passover products were amply represented.
In addition to food products, holiday products for Chanukah and Passover were displayed and all major kosher supervision service were represented. A separate room was set aside for meeting writers and purchasing autographed copies of cookbooks authored by Susie Fishbein, Jamie Geller, Levana Kirschenbaum and others.
Winners of Best In Show awards at Kosherfest 2013 Winners of Best In Show awards at Kosherfest 2013
More than 9,000 people from 21 countries attended the exhibitions and the numerous conferences, discussions and contests where the winners were presented awards for the best new kosher products or recipes of 2013. A panel discussion led by Gil Marcus, President of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, included presentations by kosher industry specialists: Yaakov Yarmove, Sales Manager and Kosher Products Director of the Jewel/Osco supermarket chains; Ron Wise, VP Sales of Osem Foods USA, a division of Nestle ; Kevin O’Brien, VP Sales of Manischewitz Company and Mordy Herzog, Executive Vice President and Director of Royal Wine Corporation.
The panel was asked about the next trends in kosher; they responded that health and wellness and specialty products such as Gluten Free are where the industry is heading. Mordy Herzog of Royal Wine-Kedem commented that in the kosher wine industry the palates of the consumers are getting much more sophisticated and they are looking for kosher products of highest quality, much like in the non-kosher world. Yaakov Yarmove stated that the proliferation of kosher food in supermarket chains and the opening of kosher food sub stores in large chains will continue to grow as the market expands.
Ron Wise, said that marketing Israeli products in the USA is not simple because of the different tastes. “Bamba is a huge success in Israel where peanut allergies are less prevalent but has not made it here in the United States”. Gil Marks reminded the panel that “Cheeses Doodles” was invented by a Sephardic Jew named Morrie Yochai. When asked about market trends, Mordy Herzog stated that the kosher market is about five years behind the general market and eventually follows that market when the product becomes popular. Kevin O’Brien of Manischewitz feels that there is a trend toward Jewish ethnic foods and cites the use of names like Biscotti instead of Mandelbrot to reach out to the younger kosher consumer who is looking for ethnic differentiation.
Premier Tasty Meats of Plano Texas won the award for “ Best in Show” for its Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket. J. Blake Goldstein of Premier told Jewish Voice that he hailed from the non-kosher world and when he became religious, yearned for the type of top quality meats and unique taste that he recalled from his non-kosher days. He created Premier Tasty to bring top quality and taste to the kosher world. In addition to the brisket, Premier displayed their “almost too unbelievable to be kosher” Smoked Gourmet Beef Franks.
David’s Cookies showed off their new pareve line of cookies. Jacob Fischer, of David’s Cookies told Jewish Voice there was a strong request from the religious Jewish community for pareve and that they had started a full separate division at David’s to supply pareve cookies.
Shopping at Costco’s kosher sections, one will see many new kosher cheeses available. Many of these cheeses are supplied by Anderson International Foods Company in Jersey City. Anderson is owned by Brigitte Mizrahi, a French Jew who saw the need to bring high quality kosher cheeses to the broader Jewish market at a fair price. Anderson produces under several brand names including the Natural and Kosher Cholov Yisrael type found at Costco and other non-Cholov Yisroel kosher brands such as Organic and Kosher and Le Petites Fermieres.
Mikee’s Sauces, produced by Exotic Sauce Packaging Company of Scottsdale, Arizona won the award for their Non-Dairy Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. Mikee, named after the CEO Mr. Michael Kaufman, has won many awards for its very extensive line of kosher sauces. Mikee is one of the largest kosher sauce producers in the world and produces sauces under various brand names including private labels for the largest supermarket chains. The Sesame Teriyaki sauce, Hoisin sauce and Honey Garlic sauces are very popular products. Mikee President, Peter Kaufman told Jewish Voice that he works 18 hour days and travels the world looking for new products to incorporate into the top notch line of products sold by Exotic Sauce Packaging. Some recent new products include the top quality spaghetti sauces and the pareve Cheese and Nacho Cheese dips.
The world of kosher wines became a bit more mature with new offerings by the various wine importers present at Kosherfest.
Royal Wine Company showed their latest offerings from their Baron Herzog line and their many high quality boutique lines such as Flam Winery. A very popular offering, that drew much attention, is a line of fruit wines from Morad Winery of Yokneam, Israel. Winery owners Gershon and Ellen Bodner were inundated with Kosherfest attendee’s waiting in line to taste the Pomegranate and Passion Fruit wines with their unique bouquet and flavor.
Happy Hearts Wine Company won an award for their Domain Ventura Merons wine selection. Happy Hearts also displayed their exclusive import from Israel of the amazing Lavie line of liqueurs. These super high quality liqueurs are unparalleled in their taste. Dark Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, Dolce De Leche, Praline, and Hadar are just a few of the many liqueurs made by Lavie. The Lavie motto,
“A little bit more than love” is an excellent depiction of the alluring tastes that they posses.
The Manischewitz Company once again displayed a vast array of products from their very expansive line of kosher and kosher ethnic brands. Manischewitz will introduce this year, a line of Kosher for Passover soups. Manischewitz is celebrating the fusion of Thanksgiving and Chanukah on November 28 with its Thanksgivukah Contest. The best combination of a Thanksgiving and Chanukah recipe will win a $1,000 prize.
LOL!
But seriesly, the kosher food industry is a triumph of free enterprise.
Do they serve Beer?
I am starting a website for kosher wine reviews. We are about to create content for the site, www.kosherwinetasters.com .
We love our kosher wine it it is going to be a lot of fun.
Great! I hope it’s a popular site.
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