PH OTOS BY DANIEL LIPP ITf
Rabbi Benjamin Rothstein, Leo Mertz (owner) and Kerry Silver (manager) of New York Pizza.
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Kosher Wars?
Will the opening of three new kosher businesses, including the debut of a kosher
bagel store, spark competition? Their owners say the demand is there.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
the there be a battle of the
kosher food stores? Is the
local community about to
witness the first of the
kosher pizza wars? Will
the craze for bagels sweep
the kosher market?
It all depends on how the
community responds to the
opening of three new kosher
businesses in the Oak Park-
Southfield area, said Rabbi
Joseph Krupnik, an inspector for
the Council of Orthodox Rabbis
of Metropolitan Detroit.
"There are a number of differ-
ent selling points for these busi-
nesses," Rabbi Krupnik said.
"The result is there is room for
all of them."
Whatever the outcome, the
mini-boom in kosher business-
es has produced a greater vari-
ety of places to quench a kosher
appetite.
The local openings follow a
larger national trend that has
seen the debut of more than
7,000 businesses offering kosher
products in the past 18 years.
This segment of the food indus-
try represents 6 million buyers,
5 million more than in 1977, re-
ports Integrated Marketing and
Communications, a New York
City firm that tracks the kosher
industry.
The addition of Jerusalem Piz-
za, Bagels Plus and One Stop
Kosher brings the number of in-
dependent kosher retailers su-
pervised by the Vaad Harabon-
im, the Council of Orthodox
Rabbis, to 14. The Metropolitan
Kashruth Council, headed by
Rabbi Jack Goldman of West
Bloomfield, supervises American
Bulk Food.
Both organizations also certi-
fy a number of private food man-
ufacturing companies.
Rabbi Krupnik credits the
boom to the demand created by
more knowledgeable kosher con-
sumers.
"The kosher consumer is so-
phisticated enough to know that
there are items available in
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