Kosher Appeal

Late last week, I had the opportunity to work with representatives of the Orthodox Union on an upcoming contribution to Food Product Design. Rabbi Moshe Elefant, C.O.O. of the Union, penned a short piece on the state of kosher and parve foods in the industry, and lent some keen insight into a sometimes-foreign subject for us gentiles.

One of the most-fascinating bits to my mind is that the bulk of kosher food and beverage sales (80%) occur outside traditional Jewish sectors—presumably going to non-Jews. In this brief piece, Rabbi Elefant notes that the kosher sector is growing at a rate of 15% or more every year (see http://www.koshertoday.com/archives/newsletter_2006/01_23_06.htm for a related item). This says something about the value that kosher approval can add to a product. Also, some niche consumers, like vegetarians, buy nonmeat kosher products due to the strict measures employed by kosher certifiers in ensuring that the products indeed contain no meat. He also notes that folks with some types of food allergies or sensitivities buy certain kosher or parve foods to avoid dairy, gluten and shellfish. Kosher may be Jewish by traditional law, but it’s certainly not just for Jews anymore.

Rabbi Elefant will present more on the market potential for kosher foods at the Focus on the Future conference slated for Jan. 30 through Feb. 2 next year. For more information, see http://www.focusonthefuture.net.

In a related bit that crossed my desk the other day, it seems that some C-stores and coffee shops are finding it in their best financial interest to offer kosher alternatives, such as creamers and milk and—in the case of the C-stores—even kosher Slurpees (see http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061110/NEWS03/611100383/1005/NEWS).

When designing product for specific markets—including the aforementioned vegetarians, lactose intolerants, celiacs, etc.—it might prove a smart move to go for kosher certification to not only include possible kashrut-following Jews in the potential market audience, but also bolster appeal for other folks, as well.