Kashrus Agencies Gear Up for Thousands of Pre-Passover Consumer Inquiries

Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on February 16, 2011 under Kashrus Organization, Passover | View Comments

New York…by Netanel Cohn, Kosher Today Features Editor…With the Passover season rapidly approaching, major kashrus organizations were gearing up for “an avalanche” of customer inquiries, as one official put it. In interviews with the agencies, there was a general sense that kosher consumers are increasingly turning to major kashrus agencies for answers to questions they have about kosher certification, Passover and year-round. The consumers use the conventional switchboard, special hotlines and the Web, according to the kashrus agencies.  Rabbi Chaim Fogelman of the Brooklyn-based OK Kosher Certification said that on average “we receive 40-50 kashrus inquires a day, split between e-mail and phone.” Mrs. Phyllis Koegel of the Orthodox Union said that its Kosher Consumer Hotline receives an average of 150 calls a day, sometimes reaching close to 170 calls on busy days. The OU also receives approximately some 50 -85 questions a day through its on-line Webbe Rebbe, according to the OU executive. During the final weeks before Passover, said Mrs. Koegel, the number of inquiries rises to between 300 and 500 a day. Mrs. Anne Senter, of the Teaneck NJ based Kof-K Kashrus said that its consumer hotline “receives about 850 questions a month divided approximately equally between e-mail and phone inquiries.” She added that “questions are usually answered directly by the Rabbi who deals with the specific company.” Rabbi Sholem Fishbane of the Chicago-based cRc said that his agency receives “about 1,000 consumer inquires each month, but many more visit the website and use our ipod app.”

The agencies agreed that technology has played a major role in the surging number of inquiries. At the Kof-K site, one can go online, fill out a form and e-mail the question. The cRc developed a kosher app because “we’re thinking about the individual stuck in the supermarket who needs kosher advice,” said Rabbi Fishbane. At the OU, it’s the popular Webbe Rebbe that answers the on-line questions. The organizations also said that many of the inquiries are made by baffled consumers on who might be behind a generic “k” or the identity of an unknown symbol or rabbi. Other major subjects are the possible dairy content of a product, the credibility of a rabbi, or the kashrus of a product that appears to be inherently kosher.

Kosher Consumers Begin to Use Social Media to Communicate with Kashrus Agencies

Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on August 23, 2010 under Kashrus Organization, Social Media | View Comments

Chicago…by Staff Reporters…Does plain roasted kasha require kosher certification? How about Sun dried tomatos without any flavors or added oil coatings, which usually are listed in the ingredients? These are some of the questions addressed to the rabbinic team at the Chicago Rabbinical Council via Twitter. According to Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, its Kashrus Administrator, social media is increasingly being used by the agency to transmit kashrus alerts and solicit subscriptions for their kashrus newsletter. Several rabbis involved in kashrus say that they “keep in touch” with many customers and even companies they supervise via Facebook. But social media is just at the early stages for the industry as a whole, industry sources say. Sam Davidowitz, the IT specialist at the Orthodox Union (OU), says that despite the agency’s comprehensive Web presence, there is still very little activity through social media. Rabbi Zechariah Senter of the Kof-K Kosher Certification agency said that most of the communications by consumers with the agency “is still through e-mail.” Many in the kosher industry believe that “it is only a matter of time” when social media plays more of a role in the growth of kosher. They say that there already is a network of “kosher foodies” that use social media extensively, even offering up-to the-minute alerts about specials in the neighborhood. Rabbi Fishbane believes that the kosher agencies should begin to promote social media like Twitter to expand their reach to the kosher market.