Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on September 12, 2010 under Rosh Hashana | 
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Chicago…Who’s on First? What’s on Second? The old Abbott and Costello routine could very well apply to many meat shelves on the eve of Rosh Hashanah that begins September 8th. While many supermarkets scrambled to showcase kosher meat and poultry in the past two years, this year’s lineup includes a resurging AgriStar with its Aaron’s Best brand. At Jewel-Osco here, an 8 piece cut up Aaron’s Best chicken went for $1.69 a lb. while an Alle’s kosher fresh shoulder roast went for $5.99. A 12oz. pack of Aaron’s sliced beef was advertised at $4.99. The reappearance of Aaron’s in both beef and poultry appears to have cut into some traditional competitors. While Empire was available in most stores, it had to compete with the Aaron’s poultry in many stores. In New Jersey’s Acme market, it was all Empire in the promotional ads with $1.99 a lb. for turkey and $2.99 for turkey breast. In addition to the supermarkets, Aaron’s was also being sold in many independent kosher stores. Hershey Friedman, the Canadian Jewish magnate who bought Agri is touting his Canadian roots in producing American quality products as part of an aggressive marketing effort. In markets like New York, the key players also include KJ Poultry, a rapidly rising kosher poultry producer in Monroe, NY. Industry sources say that there is absolutely no shortage of kosher meat and poultry in any major kosher market in the US this Rosh Hashanah.
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on September 7, 2010 under Kosher, Rosh Hashana |
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we are pleased to bring you several breaking stories and many important new developments in the kosher food industry. For starters, the closure of 25 A&P brand stores is destined to create realignment in kosher retail in many markets. Read why kosher sources do not believe that this will be such a bad thing…I am pleased to share the very inspiring story of an Irish-American who may very well be the architect of the modern-day mega kosher food section in supermarkets…What a difference a year makes? Especially when it comes to kosher meat and poultry…Yes, we told you so. A hummus war is underway…FreshDirect is taking a new aggressive tact to attract kosher on-line shoppers…Tova Ross reports that if you eat kosher and are going to college this Fall, there may be a restaurant for you…A kosher cooking maven goes on line to network with others who enjoy kosher cooking…If you’re in a supermarket and see someone with a camera in the kosher section, it just may be KosherEye.com…A New Year deserves many good new kosher wines and we have the update from Royal/Kedem…In My Sixth Sense, I look at why the airlines still can’t get it right when it comes to kosher…Tova Ross in her New Product Showcase looks at the new Hummus from Tribe.
On behalf of all of us at KosherToday, Kosherfest, Diversified Business Communication, and LUBICOM Marketing Consulting, we wish you a Shana Tova, a year of health and prosperity.
Menachem Lubinsky
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 28, 2010 under Rosh Hashana, Sixth Sense |
By Menachem Lubinsky
With the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) only weeks away, the Metropolitan Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty was already publicizing an extensive list of distribution points for holiday food for the Jewish poor, which only seems to increase with the ongoing recession. A prominent Jewish community leader was concerned that increased prices for the holiday food would also wreak havoc for those with large families and others suffering from a job loss or simply from an inability to cope with such prices. I reached out to many retailers who assured me that despite being forced to pay higher wholesale prices, they would make every effort to “hold the line.” One bakery told me that he was paying much higher prices for wheat than he did a year ago as a result of the increase in commodity prices but “would pretty much keep his prices the same.”
Typically, I hear these concerns on the eve of Passover, but this year it is very telling that the concern is so strong on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. I suspect that retailers know the true state of many of their customers better than anyone. They are aware of customers whose fortunes have turned or may have had a life-changing event in their family life. It is a time of year where there is an increase in charitable giving, compassion and understanding, which would suggest that this would not be lost on the retailers.
Many in the kosher industry tell me that “wise shoppers” will find a host of special and reduced prices, albeit that it may take a bit of organization and travel to come up with a package of good pricing.
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 24, 2010 under Kosher Gifts, Rosh Hashana |
New York…by Tova Ross, Kosher Today Features Editor…Gift-giving has become increasingly popular on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and the lead item is honey, not only those ubiquitous cute honey bear bottles, but more sophisticated and gourmet options. Good kosher wines are also a common staple in the ever-expanding holiday gift baskets. HoneyRun Winery based in Chico CA, produces a sophisticated non-sulfited wine from fruit and honey, and is kosher-certified by the OU. Honeywine flavors include Blackberry, Cranberry, Elderberry, Cherry, and Dry Mead. Savannah Bee Company Grill Honey is a wonderful present for any chef, from the amateur or professional. Formulated specifically to bring a distinctive honey flavor to be a perfect pairing to grilled foods, this honey can serve as a marinade, basting or brush-on condiment to grilled veggies, meat, and fish to add a crisp caramelizing factor and honey flavor to barbecue favorites. The product, hand-harvested at the peak of honey season, is KSA kosher certified. Sandt’s pure buckwheat honey, Grade A natural and unfiltered, is another option. More full-bodied and dark than typical mass-produced grocery store honeys, buckwheat honey is richer in iron and several antioxidant compounds than its lighter and mass-produced counterparts. Buckwheat is the strongest and darkest of all honey varieties. WeeBee Honey, produced on a small family farm split between New York and Florida, is an unadulterated and 100 percent natural raw version of honey that results in a nutritionally beneficial product, rather than a mere sweetener. WeeBee uses bees located strictly in wild locations in both states, thus producing a wildflower honey coming from wild plants, trees and grasses. Since it is unfiltered and unstrained, the honey retains all the beneficial properties that are often missing from conventional honeys, such as pollen, propolis, and honeycomb. The crop is tested every year for pesticides with a USDA lab, ensuring a pesticide-free product. Company spokeswoman Anna Almeter said, “Being a small family farm affords us the opportunity to have quality and control over our colonies and our honey. We raise our bees organically, never using chemicals or pesticides on or near our bees. The taste and aroma is a sweet wonderful mix of wildflowers with a smooth texture.” WeeBee Honey is certified kosher by the OU. Other honey-related gifts for the yomim tovim include a large selection from innovative candy purveyors Oh, Nuts, and include a honey-filled candlestick, violin or guitar-shaped honey bottles for music lovers, Jelly Belly honey beans in an adorable honeycomb-shaped jar, and baked goods like teiglach (small pastries boiled in a honey syrup) and honey cake.
For a wider variety of delicious baked goods, Challah Connection has challahs, apple and honey cakes, and rugelach. Other Rosh Hashanah-themed treats from the company include caramel-filled chocolate “apples,” organic honey-flavored hard candies, teabags with honey stirring ticks, and apple-pie flavored protein bars. Kosher Gift Baskets offer gourmet shofar-shaped cookies dipped in dark chocolate and glazed with rock candy crystals, a sterling silver lulav set, and a cornucopia centerpiece filled with dried fruit.
Packaged Facts estimates the overall market for gift-giving in the U.S. increased 7% from $113 billion in 2007 to $121 billion in 2009. Likewise, the total market for food gift-giving in the U.S. grew from $16 billion in 2007 to $18 billion in 2009, representing a 9% increase. Packaged Facts projects that healthy growth across all food gifting channels will propel the market past $21 billion by 2014. Kosher industry sources say that gift-giving n the kosher market ahs increased by nearly 15% in the past three years.
