The Kosher Scene
KOSHER page 3
Rabbi Yosef Wilder, publisher of Kashrus
Magazine.
A look at the industry shows exponential growth in the past 20 years.
With nearly 18 times the number of products, 10 times the
number of buyers and four times the number of companies
supervised, the American kosher scene has changed sig-
nificantly in the past 20 years.
Integrated Marketing Communications Inc., a New York
City firm that sponsors the International Kosher Food and
Food Service Trade Show held annually in Secaucus, N.J.,
recently released the following information about the growth
in the kosher market over the past 20 years as well as pro-
jections for the year 2000.
Market For Kosher Certified Products
VEGETARIANS/
LACTOSE
INTOLERANCE
1.15M
MUSLIMS/
OTHERS
1.35 M
JEWS
2.00 M
VEGETARIANS
13.2 M
JEWS
6.0 NI
KOSHER IS
BE' I 'I'ER
2.50 M
MUSLIMS
16.0 M
7 DAY
ADVENTISTS
0.8 M
POTENTIAL MARKET
1996 MARKET
7 Million Buyers
36 Million Buyers
More Companies
"It is very nice to say that it
should not cost anything, but
[the supervisors] have to
make a living."
More Buyers
1977
1988
— Rabbi Yosef Wikler
1994
1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6;000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000
1
COMPANIES PRODUCING:KOSHER PRODUCTS
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
BUYERS OF KOSHER PRODUCTS (MILLIONS)
More Products
More Dollars On All Certified Kosher
1977
1988
›. 1994
1996
2000
0
"If you really wanted to scrounge around for
names, I am sure you could come up with 500
[certifying groups]," Rabbi Wilder said.
The groups vary in the level of supervision
they provide. While one will lend its heksher
only to products it supervises on a daily basis,
others run more of a mail-order business, send-
ing letters of certification to manufacturing
plants they have never seen in exchange for a
check.
"We call those 'airport' hashgachah (kashrus
supervision)," said Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg
of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater
Detroit. "[The supervisors] run to the airport
to pick up the check."
Rabbi Wilder said the number of disrep-
utable certifying agencies "is a really small
percentage of the total, but it is a problem."
Rabbi Jack Goldman of the Metropolitan
Kashruth Council agrees, saying some rabbis
might lend their heksher to products that are
questionable or downright treife, or nonkosher.
He recalled one instance when he confronted
a rabbi who had provided supervision to
canned scallops, a species of shellfish.
The man told Rabbi Goldman, "I thought
they were onions."
The kosher certification groups also vary
in the number of products they supervise.
With an army of rabbis and kosher supervi-
sors, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congre-
gations of America (OU) oversees hundreds
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
NUMBER OF KOSHER CERTIFIED PRODUCTS (THOUSANDS)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
DOLLARS SPENT ON ALL KOSHER CERTIFIED PRODUCTS (BILLIONS)
,044140.;:.
45
of manufacturing plants for approximately
80 percent of the kosher market; other inch-
vidual rabbis supervise a handful of kosher
ventures.
Another point of diversity for the groups is
the amount of money they make and what
they do with it. Rabbi Wilder said the Amer-
ican industry, representing 60 percent of all
supervisory agencies, is responsible for col-
lecting an estimated $30 million annually in
fees.
After paying its personnel, the OU, for ex-
ample, supports the National Council of Syn-
agogue Youth (NCSY), programs for disabled
people and other outreach and support pro-
grams with the estimated $20 million it col-
lects in supervisory fees.
Others use the certification to provide a liv-
ing for themselves, Rabbi Wilder said. He ac-
knowledged that this could be a conflict of
interest; if a problem should arise at a kosher
establishment, its supervising rabbi may be
less inclined to drop certification since it would
mean a decline in income.
"It is very nice to say that it should not cost
anything, but [the supervisors] have to make
a living," he said.
Locally, there are two kosher certification
councils: the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of
Greater Detroit (Vaad Harabonim) and the
Metropolitan Kashruth Council (MKC) of
Michigan.