Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 27, 2010 under Kosher Market | 
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and "Like" my fan page on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!
Copenhagen…by Menachem Lubinsky…Although Denmark is not a particularly leading European destination, you wouldn’t know it from the crowds the Chabad of Copenhagen draws on a typical Shabbat in the summer for some real homemade kosher meals. Rabbi Yitzi Lowenthal and wife Rochel were hosts to some 220 people, nearly 150 waiting to embark on a kosher cruise on Sunday. The cruise crowd was served in a large dining room and courtyard on the main level while other guests enjoyed good Shabbos food and traditional songs on the upper floor. Rabbi Lowenthal says that the Shabbat meals often attract many notables. On this particularly Shabbat, it included Jewish Week publisher Gary Rosenblatt and his wife. Nearby, the small Orthodox Machzikei Hadas Synagogue also welcomes some of the visitors as does the Great Synangogue, under Chief Rabbi Brent Lexner, about a mile from the Chabad center. Rabbi Lexner certifies an impressive number of food establishments in the country assisted by Mr. Gershwald, a producer of gourmet Havarati kosher cheese. Although the community does offer some kosher food for sale, Gershwald often travels 10 hours to Antwerp to fill up his car with kosher goodies. The country is said to include about 8,000 Jews including some more recent Russian émigrés, but the number of people who eat kosher is relatively small. Still the main synagogue averages about 150 people on a typical Shabbat and makes arrangements to sell kosher food.
In other countries on the Baltic Sea, kosher is available but sparingly. In Tallinn, Estonia, kosher food is available in the main synagogue. Few of the estimated 2500 Jews who live there eat kosher but the synagogue has attracted many tourists in recent years. In Helsinki, Finland, a small kosher deli is situated right near the main synagogue. Tourists often load up on the few Israeli goodies that are on sale, including chocolate covered pretzels and halvah. In a remarkable story of accommodation, a new Radisson Hotel built right in front of the synagogue was built in two wings with a ground level bridge so that the dome of the shul can be seen from far. Stockholm too has its share of kosher food, again associated with the Jewish community center in the city. In St. Petersburg, Russia, there are some choices that include the Le’Chaim Restaurant in the Choral Synagogue. Manager Alex says that the summer has been good for business. On this summer day, LeChaim served more than 250 meals with homemade chicken and potatoes, a basic staple on the menu. He has also been called on to do a “growing number of catering jobs.” The new Shalom Restaurant is also a key attraction for many tourists who visit the beautiful city. Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg Menachem Mendel Pewzner also certifies a growing number of plants with many of the products slated for export.
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 26, 2010 under Kosher Market |
Tel Aviv…Greece is emerging as a growing market for Israeli foods, particularly in light of the improved relationship between the two countries after the flotilla fallout with Turkey. Israeli ready-meals company Hamim VeTaim and Greek food distributor Veropoulos have signed the first ever food-distribution deal between and Israeli and a Greek food companies, Mazon reported. According to the website, Veropoulos will import a line of Hamim VeTaim ready-meals specifically formulated for the Greek market. The initial order is for €50,000, and Hamim VeTaim estimates orders will come to hundreds of thousands of Euros annually. Trade between Israel and Greece was estimated at under $500 million. Israeli food sources are hoping that Greece will emerge as a major client for Israeli foods in the years to come.
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 25, 2010 under Kosher Market |
New York…by Tova Ross, Kosher Today Features Editor…In a further sign that kosher continues to be a fast-growing business throughout the country, many new kosher enterprises have recently made their way to smaller cities and lesser-known “kosher havens” across the US. In Brookline, Massachusetts kosher consumers won’t have to schlep to Boston anymore for quality kosher meat, thanks to Grape Leave Gourmet Glatt. The man behind the initiative, former businessman Morris Naggar, saw the need for a local source for glatt kosher meat in his community. Despite having no experience in the food business, Naggar is using his business acumen to open the first glatt kosher butchering shop in the neighborhood in five years. Besides for meat, prepared dishes, and cold cuts, the store will also carry organic and upscale imported foods, items that are difficult to find locally, at least in kosher versions. In Columbus, Ohio, those craving frozen yogurt now have a self-serve shop, Cuzzins Yogurt, to patronize and to choose from 50 flavor variations, including coconut, Hawaiian pineapple, and tart pomegranate raspberry. The yogurt, which comes in fat-free and sugar-free varieties, is gluten-free and certified kosher by the OU. In Stamford, Connecticut, Navaratna Vegetarian Indian Restaurant recently went kosher, thanks to the combined efforts of several community rabbis representing the Vaad Haskashrut of Fairfield County. Due to the vegetarian nature of the restaurant’s menu, koshering the equipment and future supervision is a relatively simple process. The kosher certification is welcome news to Stamford’s sizeable Orthodox Jewish community, which, despite several Orthodox shuls, a nearby Jewish day school, and a JCC, has relatively few kosher options to choose from. Vaad Hakashrut representative Rabbi Daniel Cohen, of Congregation Agudath Sholom, told Kosher Today: “The restaurant itself was interested in obtaining kosher certification, as it has worked with a kosher caterer previously and felt that going kosher was a wise business decision. They were very committed to working with the rabbis to ensure complete kashrus. There was also a lot of support among kosher consumers in the area.” Rabbi Cohen said the eatery went kosher a few days after Tisha B’Av, and there already has been a significant increase in business. He pointed to the increased presence of yom tov programs in Stamford-area hotels and Jewish commuters to Stamford who keep kosher as factors that have helped drive the increase, besides Stamford’s growing Orthodox community.
Kosher markets in Arizona just received shipment of the first batch of kosher cheese and cheese curds from Cheese of the Desert, the new kosher label of Arizona Cheese Co. Initial offerings include cheddar cheese curds, cheddar cheese and pizza cheese and more versions are hoped for, if consumer response is good enough. The kosher and cholov yisrael cheese products are under the supervision of Rabbis Dan Hayman and Dovid Cohen, local rabbis for Kehilla Kosher. On West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, there is a new organic and healthy deli, Savyon, serving soups, salads, paninis, and a variety of vegetarian dishes, such as quinoa cakes. The popular LA thoroughfare is home to a number of kosher grocery stores and restaurants. And colleges are also branching out to explore kosher options. The University of Colorado in Boulder’s new student dining area now offers a kosher eatery with a meat, vegetarian, and vegan-filled menu, due to the efforts of the campus Chabad rabbi, Yisroel Wilhelm. The new café, called “Kosher,” is run by chef Eddie Shapiro, who also serves as the mashgiach, and who operates from a completely kosher kitchen. Rabbi Wilhelm, who was working on this new venture for years, told Boulder Jewish News that two students will be attending the university this fall thanks to the new kosher option on campus.
Posted by admin on July 21, 2010 under Kosher Market |
By Menachem Lubinsky
New York…Large food manufacturers largely ignore kosher customers while retailers are paying more attention to their kosher base. Few of the large manufacturers advertise in Jewish weeklies and periodicals, but retailers do flag kosher consumers, particularly on the eve of Jewish holidays. Recent studies show that the manufacturers are also lax when it comes to wooing Muslim Americans. But there is evidence that national marketers are paying some lip service to the estimated 6 million Muslims in the US by advertising on Muslim Web sites. The same cannot be said for kosher consumers. “Best Buy even included the phrase ‘Happy Eid’ in a holiday flyer that also mentioned Christmas and Hanukkah last year,” S. Saad Ahmed, director of sales and strategy for the Los Angeles-based Muslim Ad Network, tells Marketing Daily, “which was definitely a kind of olive branch to Muslim Americans.” “Companies like Staples and HSBC are also reaching out to this market, which is worth about $200 billion,” Lisa Mabe, principal of Hewar Social Communications, a digital marketing agency in Washington D.C., tells Marketing Daily. Based on studies by LUBICOM Marketing Consulting and the Mintel Organization, an estimated 12 million Americans buy kosher food products on a fairly regular basis, which does not include ordinary Americans that buy some of the $250 billion in food products that are kosher certified. Marketers have long agreed that the manufacturers may be loosing out on an opportunity to woo more kosher consumers to their brands by ignoring the kosher world. It appears that while the manufacturers may be asleep at the wheel, retailers are increasingly recognizing the opportunities of marketing to kosher consumers, particularly before major Jewish holidays.
Articles are written by Menachem Lubinsky and his international network of correspondents to deliver the latest products and trends in the Kosher market.
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on May 31, 2010 under Kosher Market |
By Menachem Lubinsky
New York…The sharp decline of the Euro is already wreaking havoc for many Israeli food exporters who suddenly find the coveted European market an unpredictable destination. In interviews with a number of food industry sources in Israel, it appears that the losses from the decline in the Euro have in some cases wiped out potential profits. They say that many food exporters who had always considered the US kosher market secondary to Europe because of its proximity and competitive climate are re-evaluating their position and are actively considering increasing exports to the US. This comes at a time when many American kosher consumers are already feeling the brunt of what some have called the “Israeli invasion.” This past Shavuos, Tnuva published a recipe booklet with dairy dishes for the holiday while Strauss promoted some of its better ice cream products. Just before the holiday, a delegation of food executives representing the Kedem group was in Israel to tour some of the plants that manufacture products that are imported by Kedem. The group was led by Nathan and David Herzog and included Yakov Yarmove from SuperValu as well as Ron Wise from DPI. They visited Strauss-Elite, Beigel and Beigel, Prigat, Yehuda Matzo, Affifit and Wissostky Teas, all companies that Kedem now represents in the US kosher market. Menachem Lubinsky of LUBICOM Marketing Consulting will be joined by Bill Springer of Diversified Business Communications, co-producers of Kosherfest, in several days of meetings with Israeli food officials later this month as part of a tour organized by the Israel Export Institute.
