Hosher vs Nonlosher

BEEF

ground
chuck

CHICKEN

rib
steak

legs
thighs

• breast

Beef is giving ground to chicken.

NON - KOSHER PRICES

Farmer Jack
(Oak Park,
Southfield and
West Bloomfield)

2.29

Shopping Center
(Southfield)

2.48

5.99*

.59

2.19

Holiday Mkt.
(Royal Oak)

1.89

4.99**

.29**

1.69

Hollywood Mkt.
(Royal Oak)

1.99

4.79*

.89

2.39

5.89*

.88

2.49

KOSHER PRICES

Farmer Jack
(Oak Park,
Southfield and
West Bloomfield)

3.39

6.49*

2.19

2.49

Cohen's
West Bloomfield ***

2.89

6.29*

1.39

2.98

Cohen & Son
Oak Park

3.34

5.39*

1.69

4.09

Dexter-Davison
Oak Park

2.89

4.99*

1.39

2.69

Harvard Row
Southfield

2.89

4.89*

1.69

3.69

Strictly Kosher
Oak Park

2.99

7.59*

1.39

3.69

Superior
Oak Park

2.89

3.79*

1.79

3.09

Priced on May 7: Farmer Jack; May 10: kosher butchers; May 27: Shopping
Center, Hollywood, Holiday.

* = rib steak prices varied widely based on whether the butcher had aged
the meat and how it was trimmed.
** = sale prices
*** = not supervised by any rabbinical group.

No NMI Poultrq

Leslie Kleiman sounds
like a commercial for
Empire Kosher Poultry.
And he should.
Mr. Kleiman's Morris
Kosher Poultry firm in
Hazel Park is the sole
distributor for Empire in
the Detroit area. While
he and Empire spokes-
men decline to give sales
figures, Empire national-
ly claims 65-70 percent of
the kosher poultry mar-
ket, and that figure is
probably higher in the
Detroit area because of
wide distribution.
Mr. Kleiman says
Empire poultry is an all-
natural product. Its birds
are fed natural foods,
with no growth hormones
or stimulants.
According to Birgitta
Wade, Empire's advertis-
ing director, it takes
three hours to kill, clean
and package a kosher
chicken. A treife chicken,
in comparison, takes only
45 minutes. Empire also
uses cold water during
plucking . and gutting to
retard bacterial growth.
Empire has a staff of
70 rabbis as shochtim,
and the slaughtering and
salting are done by hand.
The birds, Ms. Wade
says, are grown under
carefully monitored con-
ditions in the Mifflin-
town, Pa., area for 52-55
days, "which is 10 days
longer than treife."
"In a sense, we are cus-
tom-making 150-200
products," Ms. Wade
says. These range from
chicken legs to fried
chicken nuggets, and

from pierogies to frozen
vegetables. They can be
purchased boxed, in plas-
tic, barbecued, battered
and breaded, frozen, deli-
catessen style or in insti-
tutional packaging.
Says Ms.
Wade,
"Kosher poultry is more
expensive, but so are the
designer brands. And you
get what you pay for."
Mr. Kleiman credits
increasing business to
health scares several
years ago regarding non-
kosher slaughtering and
a CBS News report laud-
ing Empire's operations.
He adds that Empire has
tried to bring down prices
since its purchase last
fall by an investment
group headed by Leonard
Tessler.
"They've taken great
pains to insure quality
and have discontinued
some
items"
,
Mr.
Kleiman says. "They've
brought down the price
on some deli items and
they've slowed the pro-
duction lines."
He also says the com-
pany did not raise prices
for Passover, as in past
years, and that prices
since spring have
remained steady.
Fresh products now
arrive on Detroit grocery
shelves the day after
slaughter, he says. "This
is the future. It's fresh
and already packaged."
Empire's frozen products
are placed in a blast
freezer and frozen imme-
diately after slaughter.
They have a shelf life of

POULTRY page 50

