Originally published January 25 2006
Kosher foods coming to a supermarket near you
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Food Marketing Institute has reported a 4.4 percent increase in the sale of kosher foods, and many supermarkets, like Albertson's, are increasing their selection of kosher products to keep pace with growing demand.
When Albertsons hired Yakov Yarmove more than three years ago, the company found a point man to navigate what might seem like an unlikely market for a grocery chain with stores in places like Cheyenne, Wyo., and Evanston, Ill.
Albertsons, one of the nation's largest grocery chains, has since dramatically expanded kosher aisles at hundreds of its supermarkets across the country.
The approximately $9 billion kosher market is growing at a rate of 15 percent a year.
Meanwhile, total grocery store sales grew 4.4 percent during the first 11 months of the year over the same time last year, to $424.8 billion, according to the Food Marketing Institute.
Experts say the boom is being fueled by several factors, including vegetarians and younger customers looking for healthier and safer food --- the same demographic that has helped the organic market take off.
"When I take the matzos to the church, they love it," said Ursula Torres of New York, who was buying 100 percent wheat matzos recently at Streit's, a Jewish landmark on the city's Lower East Side.
Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst with Mintel International Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm, completed a nationwide study in April that produced some surprising results about the kosher craze.
"They trust the kosher symbol like they'd trust the Good Housekeeping seal," she said.
Part of the trust, Mogelonsky said, is derived from how the animals are raised.
According to Jewish law, they cannot be pumped with antibiotics, additives and hormones or be fed animal byproducts.
Companies haven't overlooked the advantages of selling kosher, which means that the food was prepared under Jewish dietary laws.
Hebrew National, a division of ConAgra Foods, has always touted that famous tagline found on its packages: "We answer to a higher authority."
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