The Sixth Sense
LUBICOM Kosher CEO Menachem Lubinsky is the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, the annual trade event for the kosher food & beverage industry and is the editor-in-chief of KosherToday. The views expressed in this column do not represent the opinions of KosherToday’s publishers and are those of the author alone.
For the current My Sixth Sense article, please visit http://www.koshertoday.com/sixthsense.asp
My Sixth Sense is released on alternating weeks with Eye on Kosher, which can be found at http://www.lubicomkosher.com/eyeonkosher.
April 23, 2007
From the Editor’s Desk...
There may be 100,000 packaged goods with kosher certification, but if kashrus agencies have their way, consumers will have many more to choose from in years to come...An international conference on kashrus is set to convene in Jerusalem and Kosher Today will have complete coverage...An unprecedented agreement will help launch a special kosher insert in weekend daily papers...There were many reports of lapses in kosher on Passover...Baseball fans in Cleveland won’t give up their glatt dogs without a fight...The skies over Tel Aviv will be getting more crowded with more competition by carriers on the lucrative US-Tel Aviv route...Here and There covers eating at Ben Gurion Airport, Israelis will be eating plenty of meat on Israel’s 59th birthday, the Middle East’s largest health food mart is set to open in Netanya, and a newly renovated Doubletree Hotel in Chicago includes a designated kosher kitchen...Duly Noted covers a restaurant in Little Rock that is no longer kosher and a dairy that is marketing its kosher but includes non-kosher...Eda Kram’s New Product Showcase covers a new line from Guiltless Gourmet.
Menachem Lubinsky
Editor-in-Chief
Kashrus Agencies Worldwide Resort to Marketing
New York...Kashrus agencies around the world are resorting to modern marketing to attract the next generation of food companies who will opt for kosher certification. The agencies are retaining marketing directors, upgrading Web sites and materials, exhibiting at trade shows and even advertising in trade publications. Florette Hyman of the Kashrut Division of the London Beth Din (KLBD) was in the US recently to meet with potential clients and others in the US kosher food industry. The KLBD certifies companies in more than 45 countries, mostly ingredients but is now looking to expand in packaged goods as well. Phyllis Koegel of the Orthodox Union is a regular at food trade shows, but in many cases she meets some of the companies who are already certified by the OU in some 75 countries. Agencies in Canada, Australia and South Africa participate in various events around the world as do the other major kosher certification agencies in the US (i.e. OK Kosher Certification, the Star-K Kosher Certification and the Chicago Rabbinical Council). There no longer are any geographical barriers,” said one kashrus official. “Every agency now feels that the world is its arena.” While the agencies have been aggressive in recruiting ingredient companies around the world, the emphasis for many today is on packaged goods as more and more international companies seek entry into the US market.
Second International Kashrut Convention Opens in Jerusalem on Sunday
Jerusalem...Kashrus agencies and rabbis from around the world will gather here on Sunday for the Second International Convention for Torah, Kashrut & Technology (April 30 - May 3). The Convention will include the participation of heads of the large Kashrut organizations, Batei Din, rabbis and Kashrut Supervisors, Academic Administrators of Food Technology, experts in food production, and others. The convention is being organaoized by Rabbi Aharon Nesher (Adler), head of the Machon of Kashrut “Maskil L’David” (machon@maskilldavid.org.il).
Breakthrough on Kosher FSI’s in OU-Tribune Agreement
New York...A new series of FSI’s (free standing inserts) in some of the nation’s major dailies will for the first time focus on kosher OU certified products. In an agreement between the Orthodox Union and Forum Publishing Group, a media company wholly owned by the Sun-Sentinel Company of South Florida, which in turn is owned by the Tribune Company of Chicago, the program will allow food manufacturers to reach the growing kosher market. The inserts, to be called Certified Kosher, will appear in editions distributed in high density Jewish zip codes in the circulation areas of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Newsday (in New York City and Long Island), South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune and non-Tribune publications. It will also appear in major Jewish newspapers, including the Jewish Journal of South Florida, a Forum Publishing Group paper, with a circulation of over 140,000 weekly.
Marty Kaye, Forum’s corporate liaison, expects that the insert will quickly expand beyond one million homes across the country in the initial distribution. The first insert is projected to appear before Chanukah in December with additional inserts planned for Passover, in the summer, and prior to the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) in September. The new arrangement is particularly news for those who recall the days when manufacturers would routinely air brush their kosher certification symbols off ads. Kosher sources that the OU-Forum arrangement may be the precursor to many similar efforts in the future.
Kosher Lapses on Passover Reported
New York...Mislableing was the leading problem for kosher consumers this past Passover, kashrus sources report. In most cases, the culprit was an authorized use of a “p” when the product clearly had chametz ingredients. One can of Israeli sour pickles featured conflicting messages. One certification said “Not for Passover Use” while another said “Kosher for Passover and Year-Round.” A major infraction ocurred at Junior’s, the legendary cheesecake purveyor. It lost the OU certification after a Junior’s foreman baked up a batch of creamy cheesecakes during the Passover holiday.“The whole thing was a mistake,” Junior’s co-owner Alan Rosen told The Brooklyn Paper. “One of our customers ran out of cheesecake, so our shop foreman made some. I didn’t know about it at the time, and it’s a violation. We know we’re not supposed to bake during Passover, but what can I say?” There was also the usual confusion caused by many establishements that advertsised traditional kosher for Passover foods, but the fare was not kosher. Using words like kugel, matzoh balls, and gefilte fish the eateries gave the impression that they were kosher when the food had no kosher certification.
Cleveland Kosher Fans Vow Fight to Restore Kosher
Cleveland...Jacobs Field was one of half dozen major leagure baseball parks that offered fans kosher certified hot dogs and more. But when the 2007 season opened earlier this month, the hashgacha was gone, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.
Jacobs Field was one of the first (behind Baltimore’s Camden Yards) to have regular kosher concession stands. For the first six years, a number of Jewish organizations worked the stands and earned money for their organizations. Many fans have vowed to mount a fight against the ownership of the Cleveland Indians. They say that the program was highly successful as the stand was frequented not only by traditional kosher consumers but also by many non-Jews who covet a kosher hot dog.
US Carriers Vow to Increase Service to Tel Aviv
Boston...Officials at Boston’s Logan Airport are making a strong pitch for the resumption of direct service to Tel Aviv by El Al. The news came as Delta Airlines announced that it will inaugurate daily, non-stop service from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Tel Aviv starting next March, becoming the only U.S. airline to fly direct to Israel from JFK. The airline was very much encouraged by its successful daily non-stop service from Atlanta. It promised kosher fare and Hebrew speaking crew. There was also an unconfirmed report that Continental Airlines would expand its service with a new non-stop from Houston to add to their successful Newark – Tel Aviv flights. "Tel Aviv is the sixth largest market across the Atlantic and it is a natural fit for our customers," notes Frank Jahangir, Delta's vice president of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa. "We are pleased to further connect Israel to our global network from New York."
The news of the incresaed competition could not have come at a worse time for El Al as it reels from a $44 million loss in 2006. The loss is responsible for growing tensions with its labor force. In addition to demanding $22 million in cuts, El Al is threatening to cancel the company's collective labor agreement if the union does not sign soon. In an attempt to implement an "open skies" policy, the Transportation Ministry said it will present the government with a reform plan aimed at boosting competition, allowing the entry of new carriers into the Israeli market and lowering airfares. "Israel's true interest is to create competition between the Israeli companies to give them the possibility to compete with each other as well as bring down ticket prices. The Israelis will benefit, and those companies will grow as well," Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
From Here and There...
Tel Aviv...As in years past, most of the duty free shops at Israel’s Ben Gurion A irport did not sell their chometz for Pesach, according to the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc), which means that food products cannot be bought there until several weeks have passed from Passover. However, the cRc has been informed that the duty free shop located adjacent to gate D7 did sell their chometz and therefore one would be permitted to make purchases from them immediately after Pesach.
Tel Aviv...by Idele Ross, Bureau Chief...Israelis marking the Jewish state’s 59th Independence Day predict revelers will consume 1,200 tons of meat products. The Israel Manufacturers Association forecasts sales of 12 million portions of hamburgers, kebab, sausages and other processed meat products ahead of the holiday, spent by many Israelis touring, picnicking and barbecuing. The Association says that its survey indicates that sales will reach close to $6 million, a rise of 10% - 20% over last year.
Netanya...by Idele Ross, Bureau Chief...The Middle East's largest health food store is to open in June. The Eden Teva Market will open in Netanya's Poleg commercial area. Inventory will include some 14,000 products in 20 different departments. There will be a bakery for whole-wheat break and pastries, a deli for boutique cheese and salads , an organic hummus stand, an ice cream parlor, organic chocolate a, a vitamin department and a department for 'green' detergents. Most of the products will not be organic as such but health products or unique products produced by small companies.
The organic and health products market in Israel is said to be worth about $600 million.
Chicago... The multimillion-dollar renovations at the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in Skokie includes a kosher kitchen under the supervision of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. The 369-room luxury hotel is located just minutes from downtown Chicago.
Duly Noted...
Little Rock...The Lulav Restaurant, which was for a short time the city’s only kosher restaurant, is no longer kosher. Reached by Kosher Today, a restaurant employee said that there simply was not enough demand.
Sharon, MA... Hershel Ellenbogen clarified our story about Crescent Ridge Dairy. “While the dairy does now sell more items with hechsherim (Stoneyfield Farms yogurt, Ray's bagels, etc.), their own dairy and ice cream products, as well as many other products do not carry any hechsher at all, or in the case of meat products are altogether Treif.”
New Product Showcase...
New Guiltless Gourmet Dessert Bowls: Secaucus, NJ...The new Guiltless Gourmet Dessert Bowls have only 200 calories, 3 grams of fat, and no trans fat. These single-serve dessert bowls each provide an all natural treat which come in three great flavors: Black Velvet Cake with Caramel Sauce, Hot Chocolate Brownie with Fudge Sauce, and Bananas Foster Cake with Caramel Sauce. Each is simple to prepare: requiring mixing in the provided single-use bowl with only minimal water, microwaving under a minute, and then adding the included sauce. Retailers nationwide such as Acme, Jewel, Publix and Shoprite have begun featuring Guiltless Gourmet Dessert Bowls. The suggested retail price is $2.49. OU certified and Dairy. For more information about these or any Guiltless Gourmet, www.guiltlessgourmet.com