Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz, his yarmulke safely tucked under a gauzy hairnet, trundles through the halls of Manischewitz’s mammoth New Jersey production facility. A round, affable man with a long, wiry beard and a white lab coat with the word “Rabbi” boldly embroidered on his chest, Horowitz is one of North America’s foremost experts on the intricate art of kosher food production, and a key part of the continent’s leading kosher brand, most famous for its matzo, sweet wines and traditional Jewish comfort foods.
Passing through the “wet room” where the matzo balls, gefilte fish, and borscht are jarred, and into the dry section, Horowitz surveys his pride and joy—a brand new $11-million, gymnasium-sized matzo oven, the biggest in the world. “We’re still taking the price tags off,” he jokes, and rhymes off its specs the way one might with a new Porsche: if she ran non-stop, around the clock, she could produce enough matzo in a year to circle the globe—twice.
For many in Canada’s Jewish community, Manischewitz means home, family and tradition. For some, it signifies their last link to their heritage in an increasingly secular world. In TV ads, Manischewitz is billed as “the miracle you can taste”—like Betty Crocker, if she were doing God’s work. The company will turn 120 years old this year, but today Horowitz is describing a brand new era for Manischewitz. In addition to its new equipment, the privately held company has a new 210,000-sq.-foot, state-of-the-art headquarters in Newark, N.J., and is preparing to extend its dominance in one of the fastest-growing segments of the North American food industry with its ever-expanding product line: gourmet salsas, wasabi horseradish, and ready-to-serve cake frostings.
Perhaps the biggest change, at least symbolically, is the new man in charge: Bruce Bossidy, the company’s first non-Jewish president and CEO. Even a decade ago, the thought of a non-Jew in charge at Manischewitz would have been unthinkable. But the company’s staggering growth of late has little to do with faith or culture, and everything to do with broader trends in packaged foods.
The kosher food market is in the midst of an unprecedented boom. The business is worth $575 million in this country, according to a USDA Foreign Agricultural Services study, and growing annually by almost 20 per cent. In the U.S., kosher food pulls in over $10 billion. In 2007, Chicago-based food consultancy Mintel’s Global New Products Database reported that “kosher” was the most frequently used claim on new products launched in the U.S. and Canada, more popular than “all natural,” “organic,” “low fat” and even “no additives or preservatives.” Most consumers aren’t even aware that roughly 65 per cent of all products on supermarket shelves are now certified kosher. That bottle of Perrier you’re drinking? Kosher. Heinz ketchup? Kosher. President’s Choice taco shells? Those, too.
Loblaws now operates 12 stores in Ontario with designated kosher sections, offering meats, baked goods, pantry and deli items, and full-time dairy supervision. Last month, Brooklyn, N.Y., became home to the first Pomegranate Market—the kosher industry’s answer to Whole Foods—a 20,000-sq.-foot building that takes up an entire city block and features gourmet kosher meats and cheeses, an on-site bakery, and a kosher sushi counter. Even home appliance companies are getting in on the action: General Electric, Kenmore, and KitchenAid all recently introduced ovens with a built-in “Sabbath” mode, which allows observant Jews to use the appliance on holy days when cooking is prohibited.
But what’s driving the trend is not a massive return to religiosity among Jews in Canada. Here, Jewish consumers make up less than half of the kosher food market. Most of the growth, observers say, is taking place among those who have dietary concerns that are unrelated to cultural food restrictions, including vegetarians, and people with lactose intolerance or other food allergies, who trust kosher-certified “pareve” products, which contain no meat or dairy. Recent food scares—the listeria outbreak at Maple Leaf Foods, most notably—have only added to kosher’s appeal. People are treading far more carefully in the grocery store aisles, and kosher’s meticulous sourcing, close supervision and strict labelling practices set it apart.
