Retailers Share Ideas and Concepts of Kosher in Advance of Rosh Hashanah

Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 24, 2010 under Kosher Stores | View Comments

Monsey, NY…Groceries around the country are increasingly sharing ideas of some of the most successful kosher programs in an effort to better serve their kosher clientele. Last week a management team from Jewel visited stores in the Metro New York/New Jersey area to see some of the “best practices” in kosher. Led by kosher expert Yakov Yarmove of SuperValu, the group visited amongst other stores Rockland Kosher, one of the nation’s largest and best designed kosher stores. Grocers from around the country have visited the store because of its spacious aisles and large selections of food categories that includes gourmet cheese, meat, and sushi. Rockland Kosher has become a model of the new “kosher superstore” that now exists in many large Jewish neighborhoods. Jewel’s is preparing to reopen its flagship kosher store in Evanston, IL next month with many new additions to its kosher offerings.

Winn-Dixie Stores will help shoppers get the Jewish year 5771 off to a “delicious start” with cooking demonstrations and in-store sampling before Rosh Hashanah at select stores throughout South Florida. “These demonstrations not only allow shoppers to learn quick and easy recipes, but also provide them with an opportunity to sample and learn more about Winn-Dixie’s more than 1,000 kosher-certified corporate brand products,” noted Deborah Shapiro, specialty foods category manager at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie. Culinary designer and author Chef Doris is starring in the live cooking demos, which will be carried out under the kosher supervision of Star-K and ORB. Among the recipes to be prepared are gefilte fish patties in tomato sauce and Israeli couscous with mushrooms.

With less than three weeks before Rosh Hashanah, some retailers have already begun their advertising in Jewish publications. Retailers are expecting a banner year despite the early start of Rosh Hashanah, largely because of three periods of “3-day holidays” (two days of the holiday plus one day of Shabbat) that fall in September and early October.