When I was growing up, if we wanted to eat a candy bar, packaged cupcake, or ice cream cone, all we did was read the product label to deterWhen mine that it did not contain lard or other obviously non-kosher ingredients, and we considered it kosher. There were few hechsherim then on processed food, and ingredients were simpler, too. That’s why I marvel at how sophisticated the kosher industry has become, a feeling that is magnified tremendously when I attend Kosherfest, the world's largest business-to-business kosher food and beverage event. Unlike us Baby Boomers, today’s kosher consumers are spared the guesswork, needing only a glance at the label to find a reliable kosher certification logo.
This year, I was among more than 6,000 people from 21 countries who attended the 30-year-old annual event, held at the Meadowlands Convention Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, November 13-14. With only about four hours to enjoy the largest kosher smorg in the world, to carefully choose which milchigs to eat before seeking fleishigs – oh yes, and to interview participants for this article – I decided to focus on two aspects of the tradeshow: unique products and foreign booths.
Millenials Rule
This year’s showcase of products indicated the Millenial trend of increasing demand for healthier foods. I noticed Veggie Croutons, Organic Chestnuts, and many new vegetable-based natural drinks. Nonetheless, this year’s Best in Show winner was something so simple that I was amazed. Yet, in its simplicity, it made a statement as to what kosher consumers may be seeking, seeking even more than health – that is, convenience. Oneg Easy Onions (by Bloom’s) spares cooks the odor and teary eyes that is inevitable when dicing and sautéing onions. Now, with a simple pull of a can’s flip top, you can avoid these “hazards”. How novel is that!
Get Ready, Get Set, Get Samples!
Before I take you on a virtual tour of Kosherfest’s around-the-world exhibits, I will tell you which product most impressed me for its uniqueness, beauty, and taste—chocolate bonbons made by Coco Jolie Fine Chocolates & Confections, made right here in the good ‘ol USA. IMHO, these all-pareve, vegan, organic, fair trade works of art, which just started being produced three months ago, are just as suitable for framing as they are for eating! I had the pleasure of chatting with the company’s artistic creator, Miriam Gitelman. She has a background in architecture and design, worked in technology for a couple of decades, and later pursued her dream of going to culinary school. Her bonbon decorating techniques include hand painting and air brush. Notes Miriam, “Inspiration is limitless and we love trying new flavors and designs.”
While in chocolate mode, I also enjoyed Holy Cacao’s bean to bar chocolate, which is personally sourced from cacao bean farmers around the world and produced in Pnei Hever, Israel. Its 100% cacao dark chocolate bar, which is pure, unadulterated and contains no sugar, was the 2016 Gold Awards winner at the International Chocolate Awards.
Nathan and Nachman Horowitz couldn’t keep up with the attendee’s demand for their stretchy mozzarella-laden 47th Street Pizza products. They traveled all the way from Postville, Iowa, to display their New York and Chicago style pizzas, including vegetarian pepperoni. What makes their pizza unique is that it is parbaked, partially baked and then rapidly frozen, so you can complete baking it at home for that fresh baked taste. The Horowitzes actually work, primarily in the meat plant in Postville, while their wives run the 47th Street Pizza operation. The product is Cholov Yisroel, Pas Yisroel, and Yoshon. I felt at home when I noticed our hometown, STAR-D logo on the products.
I’ll Drink to That!
Exhibits from countries around the world, included: Israel, the UK, Canada, South Africa, the Czech Republic, France, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, Poland, Switzerland, Lithuania, Spain, Japan, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and Australia.
It was interesting speaking to Radmila Rotshild, brand manager of the Shabbat tea company, who traveled all the way from Russia to debut their special kosher tea collection, packaged in a variety of tins and boxes. Together with her international team who flew in from Belorussia and Lithuania, they demonstrated how to brew their loose black and green natural Chinese tea leaves which requires no tea ball; the tea leaves sink to the bottom. Radmila explains, “We sell our tea in Russia and in the EU, so we are kind of newbies here in the US; we’d like to start working with the US market, now, and bring high quality to the kosher market…It’s probably kind of new for the US market because everyone uses tea bags, but it is healthier to use tea like this—with no artificial colors, no added flavors. You just make hot water, brew it for one minute, and enjoy!”
Knowing that I wasn’t the one driving home, I paused to try out the Twisted Sister Pear Cider which was being displayed, in good company, among a large collection of boutique craft beers produced in Australia. Adjacent, was a variety of Aussie-grown Picky Picky Peanuts, boasting such flavors as: Tangy Mexican Salsa; Savoury Honey Roasted; Sweet Chilli & Lime; and, Vegemite. Rabbi Aaron Groner, Assistant Rabbinic Administrator of Kashrut Authority (KA), based in Sydney, explained, “We certify all these products kosher and we then bring them to Kosherfest to try to help them get into the American market which is a much bigger market than we have in Australia. These are amazing clean, green, Australian products.”
Hold the Mayo!
CDL Food Limited displayed Swiss-made mayonnaise in the tube, in four different flavors. It plans on producing more flavors in the future, which will be launched and distributed in the US by Kedem/Kayco, after Pesach. The flavors will include: Classic; Light; Light & Herb; Mustard; Garlic; and, Tartar. Swiss-born Ben Rosengarten, of Corner Deli UK Ltd., shared, “In Switzerland it is the done thing and we never really expanded--but it keeps your hands clean, it’s neat, and easy for the kids. It is a really big hit, so we are now bringing it to the other markets.”
Another tubed packaged product was displayed in an Italian booth. Only Juice’s Toda Italy product line, displayed a variety of squeezable, pure, not-from-concentrate, all-natural juice blends-- like apple, blond orange and mango fruit juice. The gentleman behind the booth, a first-time US visitor, pointed out the differences he noticed between the States and Sicily: “I like it here, but it’s different--the traffic; the rush of people. In Sicily, it is much more calm.”
The Kosherfest Crunch
Next, I enjoyed a visit with another first-time Kosherfester and US visitor, Viktoryia Utkina, who traveled to the show from Poland. She is the export manager for Sonko, the leading brand on the Polish health food market, distributed by Polish Folklore Import Co. Due to the high demand for kosher products, primarily in the US and Israel, but also in Poland, Sonko has expanded its kosher products’ portfolio to include: a wide variety of rice and millet cakes; breakfast cereals; matzo; rusk; and, chips and snacks. A mere mention of the fact that I’ve been eating two rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast, daily, for years, won me samples of everything from Ultra-Thin Millet and Chia Seeds Superfoods Cakes to milk chocolate coated rice cakes!
Schmoozing with Viktoryia about cultural differences, she noted that the American foods she tried were sweeter than European foods. “Our food is more natural or more neutral and we combine the different tastes adding sweet or sour; here, it is a bit more sweet than I expected…In Poland, a lot of people have a healthy style of life because they want to take care of themselves—this is probably the difference, as well.”
Next stop, Spain, where I ventured into the Ines Rosales booth where its gracious hostess, Lucia Conejo-Mir, VP of National Sales for the Spanish torta manufacturing company, shared the history of its fine Mediterranean crisps. Best described as being between a cookie and a cracker, they come in an assortment of savory and sweet flavors. “It dates back to 1910 when Ines Rosales first started commercializing the products. The recipe, itself, is much older, since she took an Olive Oil Torta family recipe from her cookbook. Because she needed money to support her family, she started selling tortas at Seville Train Station. These are products that have stayed very true to their roots—we haven’t changed the recipe. In fact, they are still handmade, one by one, and we’ve kept the wax packaging that Ines Rosales used to use.”
There was a history behind the Gildo Rachelli brand, too. The Italian and worldwide leader in the field of organic and biodynamic ice creams started out as a small, family-run ice cream parlor in Milan, in 1935. Angelo introduced me to his country’s favorites--Tiramisu, Profiteroles, and Chocolate Tartufo.
Gusto Buono, “The Taste of Italy” another Italian booth, displayed a range of dairy and pareve gelato, Cholov Yisroel Italian specialty cheeses, and pasta. Yet, back at an American booth, A& B Famous Gefilte Fish, a company which has expanded organically beyond fish to parve kishke and pasta, I enjoyed sampling the company’s 2018 Kosherfest New Product Competition Winner in the Pasta category-- Cholov Yisroel Frozen Cheese and Pizza Ravioli. The user-friendly product, which can be served as an appetizer or main course, needs only 5-7 minutes boiling, baking, or frying time.
While making a beeline to check out (and taste test) some of the fleishig booths before heading back to Baltimore, I whizzed past The Rebbe’s Choice booth which featured six flavors of herring inspired by European Rebbes: Jalapeno Matjes, inspired by Lelov; Honey Mustard Sriracha, inspired by Kotzk; Smokey Zaatar, inspired by Reb Zusha; Sweet Black Pepper, inspired by Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev; Zesty Matjes, inspired by Rimanov; and, Sweet Onion, inspired by Ropshitz. Wow! I felt like I was in Lithuania, instead of Secaucus! Just looking at this herring made me thirsty, so I headed for Hal’s New York born/made seltzer booth for a drink of mango seltzer. Before I knew it, it was 5 p.m. and day one of Kosherfest had come to a close. It wasn’t easy deciding which of the over 400 booths I should concentrate on in such a short span of time. This was but a taste….literally!
